Friday, February 8, 2013

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Nocturne: The Solent




Annabel Lee


Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay


Chelsea in Ice (1864)


Harmony in Blue and Silver Trouville, 1865


Gold and Grey, the Sunny Shower - Dordrecht


Nocturne, Blue and Silver: Chelsea, 1871


Nocturne Blue and Gold : Southampton Water, 1872


Nocturne Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach (1870-75)

Holker: “What is the subject of Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket?”
Whistler: “It is a night piece and represents the fireworks at Cremorne Gardens.”
Holker: “Not a view of Cremorne?”
Whistler: “If it were A View of Cremorne it would certainly bring about nothing but disappointment on the part of the beholders. It is an artistic arrangement. That is why I call it a nocturne….”
Holker: “Did it take you much time to paint the Nocturne in Black and Gold? How soon did you knock it off?”
Whistler: “Oh, I ‘knock one off’ possibly in a couple of days – one day to do the work and another to finish it…” [the painting measures 24 3/4 x 18 3/8 inches]
Holker: “The labour of two days is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?”
Whistler: “No, I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime.”

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