Grey and Silver: Old Battersea Reach

Oil on canvasJames McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)/1863

Description

James McNeill Whistler painted marine scenes throughout his career, including this depiction of the Thames River, which was a frequent subject in Whistler’s work when he lived in London. Here, he focused on the river’s industrial elements: boats and barges, laboring men, and smoking chimneys. Whistler unified the composition with deft brushwork and a subtle palette of brown and gray that anticipated his later interest in delicate tonal harmonies. The painting’s bold realism and thickly painted surface were inspired by French artist Gustave Courbet, whose work Whistler encountered during his stays in Paris in the mid-1850s and 1860s.

Provenance

The artist, from 1863 to about 1889; sold to Mrs. Aglaia Coronio (born Ionides, 1834–1906), London, from about 1889 to 1892 [according to <a href="https://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence/recno/display/?cid=07900">letter from James McNeill Whistler to Aglaia Coronio, undated (December 1888?), GUW 07900, note 3</a>; <a href="https://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence/recno/display/?cid=00693">letter from James McNeill Whistler to Aglaia Coronio, undated (1889?), GUW 00693, note 3</a>; <a href="https://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence/recno/display/?cid=11034">letter from Aglaia Coronio to James McNeill Whistler, undated (1889?), GUW 11034, note 4</a>; <a href="https://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence/recno/display/?cid=00691">letter from James McNeill Whistler to Aglaia Coronio, dated June 2 (1889), GUW 00691, note 3</a>]; consigned to Boussod, Valadon & Co., Paris, by May 30, 1892; sold to Mrs. Potter Palmer (Bertha Palmer, born Honoré, 1849–1918), Chicago, May 30, 1892, for £450 [Goupil & Cie / Boussod, Valadon & Co. Stock Books, Livre no. 13, 1891–1895, p. 97, no. 22337, as <em>Old Battersea Chelsea</em>, Special Collections, Getty Research Institute, copy in curatorial object file; <a href="https://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence/recno/display/?cid=05742">letter from Boussod, Valadon and Co. to James McNeill Whistler, dated May 28, 1892, GUW 05742</a>]; by descent to her sons, Honoré Palmer (1874–1964) and Potter Palmer II (1875–1943), 1918; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.

Dimensions

50.8 × 68.6 cm (20 × 27 in.)

Source

The Art Institute of Chicago

Movement / Period

Impressionism

Accession No

81574

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 • London • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries

Continuous Discovery