The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Bridge; flesh colour and brown dates from 1879/1880.

The Bridge; flesh colour and brown, Glasgow Museums

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 759).

Images

Subject

Site

The Bridge; flesh colour and brown, Glasgow Museums

Ponte delle Turchette, photo, M. F. MacDonald, 1995

The Ponte delle Turchette, probably seen from the Ponte de le Romite, Venice, Italy. ¹

Technique

Technique

Ponte delle Turchette, photo, M. F. MacDonald, 1995

The skilful technique was admired by the art critic of The Standard:

' "The Bridge: flesh colour and brown," presents an effect seemingly more elaborate, and only a most skilled use of the Pastels could have enabled Mr. Whistler to place equally on his paper the solidity of the houses — often whitish, with their thick-painted shutters — and the indefinite reflections of those houses in the sluggish yet still moving water of the side canal. For the first, the touch of the Pastel must be decisive and sharp; for the second, it must seem indeterminate and hazy. Yet the work is so well done that we hardly feel that it was skilful to do it.' ²

See the discussion in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 759).

History

Provenance

• Before 1886: bought by Louis Huth (1821-1905), London;
• 1905: bequeathed to his widow Helen Rose Huth (1837-1924), later Mrs Howe, Oxford;
• 1925: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 24 April 1925 (lot 97) as 'A Side Canal, Venice', and bought for £609.0.0 by David Croal Thomson (1855-1930), London art dealer;
• 1925: sold to William Burrell (1861-1958);
• 1944: given by Sir William and Lady Burrell to the City of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

• 1881: Venice Pastels, Fine Art Society, London, 1881 (cat. no. 14) as 'The Bridge; flesh colour and brown'.
• 1888: possibly Exhibition of Pastels, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1888 (cat. no. 84) as 'Venice'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 759) as 'The Bridge; flesh colour and brown'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Venice Pastels, Fine Art Society, London, 1881 (cat. no. 14) as 'The Bridge; flesh colour and brown'.
• Possibly Exhibition of Pastels, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1888 (cat. no. 84) as 'Venice'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., 'Mr. Whistler's Pastels at the Fine Art Society', The Standard, London, 31 January 1881, p. 2.
• Brighton Gazette, Brighton, 25 October 1888.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery', Illustrated London News, 27 October 1888, p. 27.
• Anon., [Grosvenor Gallery], Piccadilly, London, 1 November 1888.
• Anon., [Grosvenor Gallery], Spectator, London, 3 November 1888.

Journals 1855-1905

• Anon. [Godwin, E. W.], 'Review of Venice Pastels Exhibition', British Architect, 4 February 1881, pp. 59-64.
• Anon., 'Mr. Whistler's Pastels', Athenaeum, no. 2780, 5 February 1881, p. 206.
• Anon., 'Mr. Whistler's Wenice; or, Pastels by Pastelthwaite,' Punch, vol. 80, 12 February 1881, p. 69.

Books on Whistler

• Grieve, Alastair, Whistler's Venice, New Haven and London, 2000, pp. 46-47, repr. pl. 29, view repr. pl. 30.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Palaces in the Night: Whistler in Venice, Aldershot and California, 2001, pp. 41, 44, repr. pl. 41, view repr. pl. 42.
• Menpes, Mortimer, Whistler as I Knew Him, London, 1904, repr. f.p. 26.
• Way, Thomas Robert, Memories of James McNeill Whistler, the Artist, London and New York, 1912, drawing repr. f.p. 52.

Catalogues 1906-Present

EXHIBITION:

• Thomson, David Croal, catalogue, London, 1925 (cat. no. 15, repr.).
• MacDonald, M. F., Palaces in the Night, Whistler in Venice, Burrell Collection, Glasgow, 2003 (no catalogue).

SALE:

• Christie's, London, 24 April 1925 (lot 97) as 'A Side Canal, Venice'.

Journals 1906-Present

• Art Prices Current, vol. 4, 1924-1925, no. 4673.

Websites

• Glasgow Museums website at http://collections.glasgowmuseums.com, as 'A Side Canal, Venice'.