The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

A Coast Scene may date from the early 1880s, when Whistler visited the first owner, Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890), at Selsey Bill. ¹ The sole record is the sale of the painting after Howell's death in 1890. ²

Images

Subject

Titles

Only one title is known:

• 'A Coast Scene' (1890, Christie's). ³
• 'A Coast Scene' (1980, YMSM). ⁴

Description

Unknown.

Site

Possibly the coast at Selsey Bill where the first owner, C. A. Howell, had a house in the early 1880s. The house is shown in a watercolour, Selsey Bill m0863.

Comments

It is not known whether this was an authentic oil painting by Whistler, or what became of it (see The Selsey Shore y200). However, the painting was not disputed by Whistler at the time of its sale.

Technique

Technique

Unknown.

Conservation History

Unknown.

Frame

Unknown.

History

Provenance

• Before 1890: Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890);
• 1890: sold after his death, Christie's, London, 13 November 1890 (437) as 'A Coast Scene' for £3.13.6.

If this was indeed a painting by Whistler, it could have been acquired by Howell at the time of Whistler's bankruptcy or in the early 1880s.

Exhibitions

None known.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 201) as 'A Coast Scene'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

SALE:

• Christie's, London, 13 November 1890 (lot 437) as 'A Coast Scene'.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• None.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• None.

Journals 1906-Present

• None.

Websites

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 635).

Unpublished

• None.

Other

• None.