Provenance

• 1880: sold at auction, Robert McTear & Co., Glasgow, 22-23 January 1880.

According to their advertisement in the Glasgow Herald, Robert McTear & Co. proposed to sell 'A Symphony in Blue and White' that had been the cause of the Whistler v Ruskin libel case in 1878. According to 'J. A.', 'the painting by Whistler which was the cause of the famous law plea was sold in Glasgow by auction after extensive advertising ... The picture ... only fetched a few pounds'; John Ruskin (1819-1900) wrote 24 January 1880 to 'J. A.' of his satisfaction on hearing of this. 1 Harbron, writing much later, stated that the 'The Symphony in Blue and White' bought from Whistler for 200 guineas fetched £12.10.0 when auctioned in Glasgow soon after the lawsuit. 2

The title does not correspond to the title of any painting mentioned in reports of the Whistler v. Ruskin trial, and it is extremely unlikely that it could be identified with Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket [YMSM 170], which was the real cause of the case, but which was in 1880 in the possession of Messrs Graves as surety for money advanced to Whistler.

The title does bear some similarity to that of Symphony in Silver and Grey [YMSM 146], which was in a Glasgow collection at a later date, but this has not been confirmed.

Exhibitions

• No exhibition is known.