The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 232a
Bleu et argent: La Mer, Jersey
Date
Bleu et argent: La Mer, Jersey dates from 1881. 1
Note in Blue and Opal: Jersey, Freer Gallery of Art
It is possible that Bleu et argent: La Mer, Jersey is in fact a watercolour, and might be identified with Note in Blue and Opal: Jersey m0857.
Whistler visited Guernsey and Jersey in October 1881. On 9 October he urged Matthew Robinson Elden (1839-1885) to join him, saying 'I propose to be away for 10 days or a couple of weeks.' 2 Later he described the discomforts of the trip to his sister-in-law, Helen ('Nellie') Euphrosyne Whistler (1849-1917):
'... I ceased a career only fit for an accrobat [sic] and came over to Jersey remembering that you had said it was comparatively flatter! - Well it's flat - or a bit of it is - and besides I run no more risks on pinacles [sic] - but the weathercocks in the place have played me another trick and gone round, the lot of them, to the East - North East by East! - and awful it is - cold as Venice in winter - and everything hard as nails ... not a single picture have I managed yet - though I have tried ever so hard - but that you know is no comfort for - have I not written it! - 'mere industry is the virtue of the duffer'! - and poor as I am - well you know - how is my journey to be payed [sic] for! - It is true that I have partly discovered a little game in watercolors that may possibly be worked into one pound or so … However I shall still try - for a few days longer ...
I have had the folly to bring with me lots of boxes and traps enough to produce a Gallery of chef d'oeuvres!' 3
Images
Bleu et argent: La Mer, Jersey, Whereabouts Unknown
Note in Blue and Opal: Jersey, Freer Gallery of Art
Subject
Titles
Only one title is known:
- 'Bleu et argent: La Mer, Jersey'. 4
- 'Bleu et argent: La Mer, Jersey' (1980, YMSM). 5
Description
Unknown. Judging by the title it was a seascape.
Site
Jersey, Channel Islands, UK.
Note in Blue and Opal: Jersey, Freer Gallery of Art
It is possible that Bleu et argent: La Mer, Jersey is a watercolour, possibly the beach scene, Note in Blue and Opal: Jersey m0857.
Technique
Technique
It is not known if this was an oil or watercolour.
Note in Blue and Opal: Jersey, Freer Gallery of Art
It might, for instance, be the watercolour Note in Blue and Opal: Jersey m0857.
Conservation History
Unknown.
History
Provenance
Unknown.
Exhibitions
- 1887: Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1887 (cat. no. 183) as 'Bleu et argent; la Mer (Jersey)'.
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. 232a) as 'Bleu et argent: La Mer, Jersey'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1887 (cat. no. 183) as 'Bleu et argent; la Mer (Jersey)'.
Journals 1855-1905
- None.
Monographs
- None.
Books on Whistler
- None.
Books, General
- None.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- None.
Journals 1906-Present
- None.
Websites
- None.
Unpublished
- None.
Other
- None.
Notes:
1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 232a).
2: 9 October [1881], GUW #12818.
3: [17 October 1881], GUW #06700.
4: Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1887 (cat. no. 183).
5: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 232a).