The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 369
Blue and Green: Whitstable
Date
Blue and Green: Whitstable may have been painted in 1887. 1
Whistler was in Kent in the summer or autumn of 1887. Salvation Army, Sandwich [319] and The Ramparts, Sandwich [324], for instance, were etched in the Kentish town of Sandwich in that year, and it is most likely that this painting dates from that time.
However it could date from subsequent years, before it was first exhibited in “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 32).
Images
Blue and Green: Whitstable,Whereabouts Unknown
Subject
Titles
Only one title is known:
- 'Blue and Green – Whitstable' (1889, Wunderlich). 2
- 'Blue and Green: Whitstable' (1980, YMSM). 3
The punctuation was amended in 1980 for consistency with other titles.
Description
The New York Times described it as 'an exquisite little landscape.' 4
Given the colours (green and blue) this may have been a view of the sea from the hills behind Whitstable, or a pure landscape with blue sky
Site
Whitstable is a fishing port and seaside resort in the county of Kent near Canterbury, and was easily reached by rail from London. It was famed for its oysters. Although Whistler certainly liked oysters, there is no other record of him visiting Whitstable. However, there are several etchings of another Kentish town, Sandwich, including Salvation Army, Sandwich [319] and The Ramparts, Sandwich [324], done in the summer or autumn of 1887 (Sandwich was originally a major port, one of the Cinque Ports).
Tankerton Bay at Whitstable has a long beach studded with breakwaters, sheltered to the east by the Street Stones. An oil painting of the harbour pier by John Fraser (1858-1927), Low Tide, Whitstable Harbour, Kent, dating from 1885, is in the Canterbury Museum and Galleries. 5
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
Unknown.
Exhibitions
- 1889: “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 32) as 'Blue and Green – Whitstable'.
The New York Times on 3 March 1889 described it as 'an exquisite little landscape.' 6
However, E. G. Kennedy of Wunderlich's complained to Whistler on 18 January 1889 that a small painting of Whitstable appeared overpriced at £1000, and indeed, it did not sell, and was returned to the artist on SS Servia. 7
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. 369) as 'Blue and Green: Whitstable'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 32) as 'Blue and Green – Whitstable'.
Newspapers 1855-1905
- Anon., 'Etchings, Drawings, Pastels', New York Times, New York, 3 March 1889, p. 5.
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. 369).
2: “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 32).
3: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 369).
4: Anon., 'Etchings, Drawings, Pastels', New York Times, New York, 3 March 1889, p. 5.
5: ArtUK website at https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/low-tide-whitstable-harbour-kent-75963.
6: Anon., 'Etchings, Drawings, Pastels', New York Times, New York, 3 March 1889, p. 5.
7: Kennedy to Whistler, GUW #07168; G. Dieterlen to Whistler, 1 November 1889, GUW #07187.