The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Grey and Silver: Pourville probably dates from Whistler's time in Pourville-sur-mer between July and August 1899, or in the following summer. ¹

However, according to the first owner, William Keeney Bixby (1857-1931), it was painted at Trouville in 1901. ² Although it was certainly first exhibited in 1901 and sold to Bixby in 1902, it probably dates from slightly earlier.

Grey and Silver: Pourville, from Art Journal, December 1901, repr. p. 379

The Shore, Pourville, The Ashmolean

The compilers have never seen this painting but it would appear to have been closely related to Whistler’s other paintings of Pourville in 1899, particularly The Sea, Pourville y520, The Shore, Pourville y521 and Grey and Gold: High Tide at Pourville y523.

Images

Subject

Titles

The title has seen many variations, as follows:

• ‘Gray and Silver – Pourville’ (1901, ISSPG). ³
• 'Marine "Grey & Silver, Trouville" ' (1902, Whistler). ⁴
• ‘Grey & Silver – Trouville’ (1902, C. L. Freer). ⁵
• ‘Grey and Silver, Trouville’ (1904, Copley Society, Boston). ⁶
• 'Blue and Gray: Trouville' (1905, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts). ⁷
• ‘Grey and Silver, Trouville’ (1912, St Louis). ⁸
• ‘Blue and Gray, Trouville’ (1914, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy). ⁹
• ‘Blue and Grey, Trouville’ (1945, W. H. Bixby). ¹⁰
• 'Grey and Silver: Pourville' (1980, YMSM). ¹¹

The original (1901) title is probably correct, although it is undoubtedly confusing that several owners, and Whistler himself, later called this a painting of Trouville. 'Grey and Silver: Pourville' is therefore the preferred title.

Description

Grey and Silver: Pourville, Art Journal, December 1901, repr. p. 379.

Early reproductions show that this was a view of the sea from a beach, in horizontal format. A dark beach runs diagonally from left up to right. Two figures stand towards the left, on the beach. The sea is stormy, under a cloudy sky, and there is a sail on the horizon at right. ¹²

C. L. Freer, who called it ‘Grey & Silver - Trouville’, described the painting as ‘Green sea and purplish clouds’ in 1902. ¹³

William Hoxie Bixby (1888-1967), the son of the original owner, W. K. Bixby, gave the following description of his painting:

‘it is apparently painted on board and is very small, being 9 x 6 inches. There is a Woman and child in the foreground and in the lower right hand corner there are two figures, which are quite small. It is a scene of a beach with water breaking upon same and a small ship in the far distance.' ¹⁴

As reproduced by Rinder in 1901 and Buffalo in 1914, the painting does not correspond exactly with Bixby’s description, for the small figures are on the left, not on the right. Furthermore, the size given by W. H. Bixby, 9 x 6 inches (22.9 x 15.2cm), is not the same as that given in a memorandum, in the copy of the Boston Memorial Exhibition catalogue formerly owned by Frank Gair Macomber (1849-1941) and now in the Boston Public Library. In this memo the size of the panel framed is given as 17 x 9 inches (43.2 x 22.9cm), and unframed, 9 1/2 x 7 inches (24.1 x 17.8cm). In these measurements width precedes height. However, both these inaccuracies might have arisen from carelessness.

Site

Pourville on the coast of France. It was probably painted at Pourville between July and September 1899, although, according to the first owner, W. K. Bixby (quoted by Cary), it was painted at Trouville in 1901. ¹⁵ Pourville-sur-mer, near Dieppe, is quite a long way north of Trouville-sur-mer.

Technique

Technique

Grey and Silver: Pourville, Art Journal, December 1901, repr. p. 379.

It appears to have been painted with free brushwork, the waves painted in thick creamy paint. It has not been seen by the authors of this catalogue.

Conservation History

Unknown.

Frame

Unknown.

History

Provenance

• 1899/1902: bought from the artist through the Company of the Butterfly by William Keeney Bixby (1857-1931), St Louis, MO;
• 1931: bequeathed to his son, William Hoxie Bixby (1888-1967), St Louis, MO, and still in his possession in 1945;
• 1955/1965: according to the owner, W. H. Bixby, the painting was stolen.

In May 1902 Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) appears to have collected a painting for William Keeney Bixby (1857-1931): Whistler's account, dated June 1902 records that 'Marine "Grey & Silver, Trouville"' was bought from the Company of the Butterfly (Whistler's brief-lived business outlet) in May 1902 'for W K Bixby Esq. / [£]262.10.0'. ¹⁶ C. L. Freer recorded the price of ‘Grey & Silver - Trouville’ as 250 guineas, and delivered the painting to Bixby in 1902. ¹⁷

W. H. Bixby confirmed that his father, W. K. Bixby, bought a painting (which he called ‘Blue and Grey, Trouville’) from Whistler, and C. L. Freer brought it to America for Bixby senior. ¹⁸ On W. K. Bixby's death the painting passed to W. H. Bixby who stated in 1965 that it was no longer in his possession, having been stolen 'a few years ago' in transit to New York. ¹⁹

Exhibitions

• 1901: 3rd Exhibition, Pictures, Drawings, Prints and Sculptures, International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, Galleries of the Royal Institute, London, 1901 (cat. no. 38) as ‘Gray and Silver - Pourville’.
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 9) as ‘Grey and Silver, Trouville’.
• 1905: 100th Anniversary Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1905 (cat. no. 421) as 'Blue and Gray: Trouville'.

Grey and Silver: Pourville y522 and Green and Silver: The Great Sea y518 were described in 1901 as 'notes of the shifting light and colour of sea and sky' and 'pleasant little studies of the sea.' ²⁰ The Glasgow Herald on 5 October 1901 wrote that they were 'true in tone' and 'weave an enchantment for us.' It was further praised by the Daily News on 12 October 1901 as showing 'mastery over his material, the fewness of his strokes, and the certainty of his effect' and the sky was described as 'leaden-edged with light.' The British Architect admired the 'beautiful colour, 'The grey sand, dull green sea, and blue-grey lowering sky.' ²¹

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. 522), plate 335, as 'Grey and Silver: Pourville'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 3rd Exhibition, Pictures, Drawings, Prints and Sculptures, International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, Galleries of the Royal Institute, London, 1901 (cat. no. 38) as ‘Gray and Silver – Pourville’.
• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 9) as ‘Grey and Silver, Trouville’.
• 100th Anniversary Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1905 (cat. no. 421) as 'Blue and Gray: Trouville'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• 'International Art Show in London', Glasgow Herald, Glasgow, 5 October 1901.
• 'International Society', Chronicle, London, 5 October 1901.
• ' "International" Exhibition', Morning Post, London, 7 October 1901.
• 'Royal Institute Galleries. The International Society', Daily News, London, 12 October 1901.

Journals 1855-1905

• 'The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers', British Architect, 11 October 1901.
• Rinder, Frank, 'The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers', Art Journal, December 1901, pp. 378-81, repr. p. 379.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Cary, Elizabeth Luther, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of Artist’s Works, New York, 1907, p. 156.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Paintings from St Louis homes, City Art Museum, St Louis 1912 (cat. no. 94) as ‘Grey and Silver, Trouville’.
• 9th Annual Exhibition, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo, 1914, repr. p. 85 as ‘Blue and Gray, Trouville’.

Journals 1906-Present

• None.

Websites

• None.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 415).

Other

• None.