The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0176
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water'
Date
Whistler's Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water' dates from late 1854 or early 1855.
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', private collection
For more information on this work, see MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 3).
It was originally assumed to be an oil painting, and so is also catalogued in YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 5) as 'copy after Turner'.
Images
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', private collection
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', detail
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', detail
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', detail
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', detail
Robert Carrick, after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', chromolithograph, British Museum 1861,0608.155
Subject
Description
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', private collection
Figures on a beach, at lower left, looking out over a stormy sea.
Technique
Composition
Robert Carrick, after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', chromolithograph, British Museum 1861,0608.155
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', private collection
Whistler's copy was from Robert Carrick's print, not the original oil by Turner.
The original oil by Joseph Mallard William Turner (1775-1851), is now in a rather ghostly condition in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA. Robert Carrick's chromolithograph of 1852 was the source for Whistler's detailed copy.
Technique
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', detail
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', detail
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', detail
Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water', detail
Originally assumed to be an oil, this is definitely a watercolour, copied from an 1852 chromolithograph after Turner by Robert Carrick. It is skilful, using a range of techniques including broad washes, precise brushwork details, body colour highlights, and scraping.
See discussion in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 3).
History
Provenance
- 1854/1855: given by Whistler to George Phillip Camman (1804-1863);
- 1863-present: passed by family descent to the present owners.
Exhibitions
It was not, as far as is known. exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 3) as "Copy after Turner's 'Rockets and blue lights (close at hand) to warn steam-boats of shoal water' ".
- Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 5) as 'copy after Turner'.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- Lochnan, Katharine A., Turner, Whistler, Monet: Impressionist Visions, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Tate Britain, London, 2004