The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Whistler's pictures at the Royal Society of British Artists dates from between March and August 1887. It represents the 64th Annual Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists, London, 1887.

Whistler's pictures at the Royal Society of British Artists, National Gallery of Art, DC

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1127), as 'Whistler's pictures at the Royal Society of British Artists', dated '1886/7'. The entry has been corrected.

Images

Subject

Site

Whistler's pictures at the Royal Society of British Artists, National Gallery of Art, DC

Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay,Freer Gallery of Art

The galleries of the Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street, London. The pictures represented are Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay y076 and Harmony in Black, No. 10 y357.

Technique

Conservation History

Whistler's pictures at the Royal Society of British Artists, National Gallery of Art, DC

Paintings hung at the Royal Society of British Artists, National Gallery of Art, DC

Whistler's pictures at the Royal Society of British Artists was originally on the left half of a sheet of paper, with Paintings hung at the Royal Society of British Artists on the other half.

History

Provenance

• 1917: probably bought from Messrs Dowdeswell by Colnaghi's, London art dealers, 3 April;
• 1919: sold by Colnaghi's to D. Farr, Philadelphia dealer, 20 June.
• 1930: probably bought from Charles Sessler (1854-1935), Philadelphia dealer, by Lessing Julius Rosenwald (1891-1971) on 17 July 1930;
• 1943: given to the National Gallery of Art but housed at Alverthorpe until 1980.

Further details is given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1127).

Exhibitions

Whistler's pictures at the Royal Society of British Artists, National Gallery of Art, DC

Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay ,Freer Gallery of Art

It represents the 64th Annual Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists, London, 1887, with, on the left, Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay y076. The portrait of a woman, seen to right, is Harmony in Black, No. 10 y357.

There is no record of this drawing being 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. 1127) as 'Whistler's pictures at the Society of British Artists'.

Websites

• National Gallery of Art website as 'Sketch of Mrs. Godwin's Portrait when hung at the Society of British Artists'.