Whistler's Nocturnes
Whistler's Nocturnes show the Thames at dusk and night in thin veils of blue, grey and gold.
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About the series
James McNeill Whistler, an American painter who worked in London, began his Nocturnes around 1871. Most show the River Thames near his home in Chelsea, with the lights of Battersea across the water and the Cremorne pleasure gardens nearby. He gave them musical titles, such as Nocturne in Blue and Silver, to stress colour and mood over subject.
He painted from memory in the studio, using very thin, fluid paint on a dark ground so that shapes almost dissolve. The paintings caused a scandal. In 1877 the critic John Ruskin accused him of flinging a pot of paint in the public's face over Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket. Whistler sued for libel in 1878 and won, but was awarded only a farthing in damages. That painting is now in the Detroit Institute of Arts. Tate Britain in London holds Nocturne: Blue and Gold, Old Battersea Bridge.
The Nocturnes are quiet and dark, so they suit a bedroom or study. Two blue night views make a calm pair.
