Grey and Silver: Chelsea Wharf

c. 1864/1868

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

This painting shows a waterfront with boats and buildings in the distance. The shadowy horizon line divides the composition between the gray sky and gray water. The distant shore features faint outlines of buildings. Closer to us, boats are anchored with their masts tied up, creating lines against the sky. The sails and rigging are painted in earthy colors. At the bottom of the painting, shadowy shapes that may be the silhouettes of people appear to walk across a path or bridge. Most of the painting is in shades of gray, and the brushstrokes are soft and translucent, giving the painting a blurred quality.

Media Options

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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 Number

    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

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

  • 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.

  • 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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