The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

London Bridge dates from 1881.

London Bridge, Freer Gallery of Art

Fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 861).

Images

Subject

Site

London Bridge, Freer Gallery of Art

On 23 September 1881 a newspaper reported, 'His first water-colour drawing is Swan Pier and London Bridge from a low point of view, just above the pier - dull sky, Thames reflecting it, dark smoke from boat beside the pier, mist through the arches, and vapour of multitudinous chimneys.' ¹ Way & Dennis wrote that the view showed London Bridge, with the old Swan Pier in front, but T. R. Way later stated: `His first new experiment ... was a drawing of London Bridge by afternoon light, done from Old Swan Pier.' ²

Technique

Technique

See technical details in Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.

History

Provenance

• After 1881: acquired by Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), London;
• 1905: bought in July by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

For details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 861).

Exhibitions

It was not 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. 861) as 'London Bridge'.

Books on Whistler

• Glazer, Lee, Emily Jacobson, Blythe McCarthy, and Katherine Roeder, Whistler in Watercolor: Lovely Little Games, New Haven and London, 2019.
• Way, Thomas Robert, Memories of James McNeill Whistler, the Artist, London and New York, 1912, p. 59.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 179, pl. 97.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1905.115a-b.
• Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.