The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 454
St John's, Westminster
Date
St John's, Westminster dates from 1896. 1
According to the Pennells, in the summer of 1896 Whistler started many studies on small panels:
'The most important was one of St. John's, Westminster. He loved the little quiet old corner, now almost entirely destroyed, and he went there several times ... he took two [afternoons] over this church. The painting was simply done, commencing with the point of interest, the masses put in bigly, the details worked into them.' 2
Images
St John's, Westminster, Whereabouts unknown
T. H. Shepherd, St John's Church, Westminster, engraved by W. Watkins, 1831
Subject
Titles
Only one title has been suggested:
- 'St John's, Westminster' (1908, Pennell). 3
- 'St John's, Westminster' (1980, YMSM). 4
Description
Unknown.
Site
T. H. Shepherd, St John's Church, Westminster, engraved by W. Watkins, 1831
St John's, Smith Square, was built in 1714-28 by Thomas Archer (1668–1743), but was gutted in 1941 during the second World War, and has since been rebuilt as a concert hall.
The four towers, at each corner of the original church, inspired Charles Dickens (1812-1870), in Our Mutual Friend, to describe it as like 'some petrified monster, frightful and gigantic, on its back with its legs in the air.'
Sir Hugh Casson, writing in 1981, was more flattering:
'The plan is squarish and almost symmetrical, but like all Baroque churches the interlocking pattern of the internal spaces is ambiguous, so that you can "see" and comprehend the church centrally or longitudinally as you prefer. The outside is such a turmoil of movement that you could almost say there are no walls or windows ... only a composition of classical elements, columns and cornices, moulded pediments and heavily modelled towers ... Archer handles all this with an energy, courage and confidence which is irresistible. Admittedly, it looks a bit too large for the space it occupies - rather like some great piece of machinery that has been parked in this tiny domestic little square of brick-faced houses and white sash-windows. But this architectural outsize swagger is part of its fascination. It positively challenges you to take it on full-face (and on all four faces).' 5
In 1896 Whistler drew two lithographs of London churches, St Anne's, Soho c162 and St Giles-in-the-Fields c167, and the subject of this oil reflects a similar interest in religious sites, following the death of his wife.
Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) made an etching of St John's, Westminster, which Wuerth dates 1895. 6
Technique
Technique
Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) often accompanied Whistler in the summer of 1896 and commented:
'[we] sketched together in the London streets ... Whistler prepared beforehand the colours he wanted to use, and if the day turned out too grey or too radiant for his scheme, nothing was done. The chosen colours were mixed and little tubes, filled with them, were carried in his small paint-box, which held also the tiny palette with the pure colours he employed arranged on it, his brushes, and two or three small panels ... He worked ... sitting on the usual three-legged sketching-stool, the box on his knee, the panel in it, beginning at once with colour on the panel.' 7
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
Unknown.
Exhibitions
It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.
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. 454) as 'St John's, Westminster'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- None.
Journals 1855-1905
- None.
Monographs
- None.
Books on Whistler
- Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 2, pp. 173-74.
Books, General
- Wuerth, Louis, A., Catalogue of the Etchings of Joseph Pennell, with an introduction by Elizabeth Robins Pennell, Boston, 1928, etching by J. Pennell repr. p. 77 (cat. no. 222).
- Young, Elizabeth and Wayland Young, Old London Churches, London, 1956, church repr. pl. 39.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- None.
Journals 1906-Present
- None.
Websites
On St John's Smith Square:
- Images of England, Historic England website at http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk (photo of present appearance).
- Wikipedia online at https://en.wikipedia.org.
Unpublished
- None.
Other
- None.
Notes:
1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 454).
2: Pennell 1908 [more], vol. 2, pp. 173-74.
3: Pennell 1908 [more], vol. 2, pp. 173-74.
4: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 454).
5: Quoted in 'St John's, Smith Square', Wikipedia online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John%27s,_Smith_Square.
6: Wuerth, Louis, A., Catalogue of the Etchings of Joseph Pennell, with an introduction by Elizabeth Robins Pennell, Boston, 1928, etching by Pennell repr. p. 77 (cat. no. 222).
7: Pennell 1908 [more], vol. 2, pp. 173-74.