The Thames in Ice
date: label: Date
content: 1860
name: label: Artist
content: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
notes: label: Label
content: After Whistler moved from Paris to London in 1859, he found the river Thames to be a constant source of inspiration. Originally titled “The Twenty-fifth of December 1860. On the Thames,” this picture records a particular moment during a bitterly cold winter, when the river was frozen for more than fourteen weeks. Although he likely retouched the work later in the decade, Whistler claimed to have completed it in three days at an inn overlooking the river. The bold brushstrokes, somber palette, and thinly painted surface reinforce the realistic immediacy of the image. This work seems worlds away from the visual poetry of Whistler’s later Nocturnes, but there is a hint of his subsequent aestheticism in the misty gray atmosphere that envelops the factories on the far bank of the river.
label: Provenance
content: Seymour Haden (1818-1910), London [1]
label: Provenance
content: To 1901
label: Provenance
content: John James Cowan (1846-1936), Edinburgh, Scotland, to 1901 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1901 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from John James Cowan in November 1901 [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Curatorial Remark 2, C.L. Freer, in the object record.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 37, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See note 2.
label: Provenance
content: [4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Freer & Whistler: Points of Contact (February 23, 2008 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) (April 3, 2001 to January 24, 2008)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Art - James McNeill Whistler (May 9, 1993 to June 30, 1997)
label: Exhibition History
content: Arrangement in Yellow and Gold: Paintings by James McNeill Whistler (March 14, 1986 to April 1, 1987)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler (January 17, 1985 to (end date unknown))
label: Exhibition History
content: James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and Modern Life (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: Winter into Spring: American Landscapes (March 4, 1982 to June 1, 1982)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings (March 20, 1981 to September 24, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler (November 11, 1976 to March 18, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Paintings by James McNeill Whistler (August 1, 1974 to December 5, 1975)
label: Exhibition History
content: Whistler Paintings (October 15, 1969 to September 25, 1971)
label: Exhibition History
content: Whistler Paintings (September 8, 1961 to October 15, 1969)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings (September 8, 1961 to May 2, 1973)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings (June 9, 1960 to September 8, 1961)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 10 and 11 (February 25, 1956 to November 3, 1959)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Oil Paintings, Gallery 3, 1955 (December 16, 1955 to February 25, 1956)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Works of Whistler (September 22, 1947 to April 11, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, American Oil Paintings, Gallery 3, 1947 (September 25, 1947 to April 12, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, American Oil Paintings (May 1, 1933 to February 6, 1944)
label: Exhibition History
content: Whistler Landscapes, Oil (January 20, 1928 to May 1, 1933)
label: Exhibition History
content: Whistler Oils Exhibition (January 8, 1925 to January 20, 1928)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings by J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 8, 1925)
label: Exhibition History
content: Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler (May 1905)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Francis Seymour Haden (1818-1910)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: John James Cowan (1846-1936) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: United States
topic: label: Topic
content: winter
label: Topic
content: river
label: Topic
content: snow
label: Topic
content: boat
label: Topic
content: United States
label: Topic
content: American Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1901.107a-b
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Oil on canvas
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 74.6 x 55.3 cm (29 3/8 x 21 3/4 in)