Wortley; Note in Green

Maker(s)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Historical period(s)
ca. 1884
Medium
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions
H x W: 13.5 x 23.4 cm (5 5/16 x 9 3/16 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1902.155a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Oil painting

Keywords
landscape, United States
Provenance

To 1902
Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934), London, to 1902 [1]

From 1902 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Henry Studdy Theobald, London, in August 1902 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] Undated folder note sheet, Object file. See also Original Whistler List, Purchases from Theobald, pg. 3, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Henry Studdy Theobald (C.L. Freer source) 1847-1934
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

Wortley Hall is a large estate east of Barnsley, Yorkshire, which Whistler visited in the early 1880s. In this painting Whistler adopted an unusually low vantage point, so that the green field in the foreground takes up three quarters of the picture area. As with most of the small oils, Whistler thinned his paints so that they flowed across the smooth surface of the panel like watercolors on a hard paper. The thin washes of greens and grays let the color and grain of the wood shine through, adding tonal variations and texture to Whistler's representation of the field.

Published References
  • Andrew McLaren Young, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer. The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler. Studies in British Art 2 vols. New Haven, 1980. vol. 2: pl. 215.
  • Kenneth Myers. Mr. Whistler's Gallery: Pictures at an 1884 Exhibition. Washington. cat. 3, p. 29.
  • Donald Holden. Whistler Landscapes and Seascapes. New York. p. 63, pl. 21.
  • David Park Curry. James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1984. p. 133, pl. 37.
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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