Nocturne

Maker(s)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Historical period(s)
1878
Medium
Lithotint; ink on ivory paper
Dimensions
H x W: 17.2 x 26.4 cm (6 3/4 x 10 3/8 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1906.136
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Print
Type

Lithograph

Keywords
boat, moon, night, nocturne, United States
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

Nocturne is a view of the Thames from Whistler's studio in Chelsea. Whistler did not reverse the drawing, so the printed image is backwards, but many of his contemporaries would have recognized the industrial landscape of Battersea, which included the lighted clock tower of the Morgan Crucible Company, the factory smokestacks, the triangular profile of the slag heap, and the spire of Battersea Church. Whistler used broad washes and the cool tones of the paper to create a powerfully moody print that can hold its own with the painted nocturnes.


Whistler lithographs are identified by "C." numbers as described in The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998). This print is C.8, one of two impressions. See also F1905.208.

Published References
  • The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler. 2 vol., Chicago and New York, 1998. pp. 438-443.
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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