The Art Institute of Chicago

Coast Scene, Bathers

Oil on panelJames McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)/1884–85

Description

In this intimately scaled seascape, James McNeill Whistler employed the sparest of compositional elements to evoke a coastal atmosphere. Broad horizontal bands of blues and gray suggest sky, ocean, and sand, with dabs of thin pigment giving economical, yet expressive form to around a dozen figures on the windswept beach. Whistler dedicated much of his artistic practice to capturing the mood and color harmonies of marine scenes. Coast Scene, Bathers was painted en plein air, a practice to which the artist returned in the 1880s. It marked a distinctive shift from his studio-produced Nocturnes of the previous decade.

Provenance

Mrs. J. Cross, by November 1917; sold to P. and D. Colnaghi and Co., London, November 1, 1917 [according to Young, MacDonald, Spencer, and Miles 1980]; partial share sold to M. Knoedler and Co., New York, December 31, 1917; sold to Charles B. Eddy (1872–1951), New York, April 1918 [M. Knoedler and Co. Stock Book 6, Stock No. 14346, copy in curatorial object file]; returned to M. Knoedler and Co., New York, by January 1919; sold to R.C. and N.M. Vose Gallery, Boston, November 1919 [M. Knoedler and Co. Stock Book 6, Stock No. 14561, copy in curatorial object file]; sold to Woodruff J. Parker (1880–1930), Chicago, June 5, 1922. With Chester H. Johnson Galleries, Chicago, by 1926; sold to Walter Stanton Brewster (1872–1954), Chicago, 1926 [according to Young, MacDonald, Spencer, and Miles 1980]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.

Dimensions

13.3 × 21.9 cm (5 1/4 × 8 5/8 in.)

Source

The Art Institute of Chicago

Movement / Period

Impressionism

Accession No

14309

Official Citations

[The Art Institute of Chicago Official Record][Full Resolution Image]

Curatorial Affinity Stream

Continuing the Universe of James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)

Impressionism • United States • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries

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