Grey and Silver: Chelsea Wharf

c. 1864/1868

James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 61 × 46 cm (24 × 18 1/8 in.)
    framed: 83.19 × 67.63 × 8.89 cm (32 3/4 × 26 5/8 × 3 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.99

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Sold by the artist before 1886 to Gerald Potter, London;[1] probably sold before August 1895 to (Boussod Valladon & Cie, New York); sold 1895 to Peter A.B. Widener [1834-1915], Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] According to Andrew McLaren Young, Margaret F. MacDonald, and Robin Spencer, with the assistance of Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven, 1980: 30, in 1886 Whistler listed it in Potter's collection under the title Chelsea Barges.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1875

  • Possibly 11th Exhibition, Society of French Artists, Descamps Gallery, London, 1875, no. 80, as Chelsea Reach--Harmony in Grey.

1892

  • Nocturnes, Marines, and Chevalet Pieces, Boussod, Valladon & Cie, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892, no. 35, as Grey and Silver, Chelsea Wharf.

1905

  • Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, London, 1905, no. 69.

1969

  • James McNeil Whistler (1834-1903), Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, 1969, no. 26.

1972

  • The Color of Mood: American Tonalism 1880-1910, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1972, no. 46.

1977

  • London and the Thames: Paintings of Three Centuries, National Maritime Museum for the Department of Environment, Somerset House, Greenwich, 1977, no. 68, repro.

1994

  • James McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London; Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1994-1995, no. 38, repro., as Grey and Silver: Chelsea Wharf.

1998

  • Songs on Stone: James McNeill Whistler and the Art of Lithography, Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, no. 33, as Chelsea Wharf: Grey and Silver.

2006

  • Whistler and Russia, State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow, 2006-2007, no. 4, repro.

2013

  • An American in London: Whistler and the Thames, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover; Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, 2013-2014, no. 36, repro.

2024

  • James Abbott McNeill Whistler: L’effect papillon [James Abbott McNeill Whistler, the Butterfly Effect], Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, 2024, no. 118, repro.

Bibliography

1885

  • Catalogue of Paintings Forming the Collection of P.A.B. Widener, Ashbourne, near Philadelphia. 2 vols. Paris, 1885-1900: 1(1885):115, repro.

1908

  • Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell. The Life of James McNeill Whistler. 2 vols. London, 1908: 1:199; 2: facing p. 46.

1915

  • Roberts, William. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: British and Modern French Schools, Philadelphia, 1915: unpaginated, repro.

1923

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.

1931

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 214, repro.

1948

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 110, repro.

1969

  • Holden, Donald. Whistler Landscapes and Seascapes. New York, 1969: 40, pl. 10.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 122, repro.

1980

  • Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, and Robin Spencer, with the assistance of Hamish Miles. The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler. 2 vols. New Haven, 1980: 1:30, no. 54; 2:pl. 25.

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 136, repro.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 257, repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 130, color repro. 153.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 561, no. 850, color repro.

1988

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 156, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 380, repro.

1994

  • Dorment, Richard, and Margaret F. MacDonald. James McNeill Whistler. Exh. cat. Tate Gallery, London; Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. London, 1994: no. 38, 108, color repro.

1998

  • Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 244-248, color repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20188648

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