Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso
date: label: Date
content: 1866-ca. 1874
name: label: Artist
content: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
notes: label: Label
content: Whistler began this painting in Valparaiso, Chile, where he witnessed a Spanish fleet attack the city. Whistler probably started the painting as a daylight scene, transforming it into a night scene when he reworked the canvas in 1874. The high horizon and the powerful diagonal of the wharf create an arrangement of forms that has no European precedent, but recalls the late landscapes of the Japanese painter Utagawa Hiroshige (1797&#150;1858).
label: Provenance
content: Capt. Henry Hill (1818-1882), Brighton, England, purchased from the artist [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1889
label: Provenance
content: Alexander Ionides (1840-1898), London, purchased at auction, Christie's, May 25, 1889, no. 80, "Nocturne in Blue and Silver Valparaiso" [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1892
label: Provenance
content: Sir John Charles Day, purchased in May 1892 [3]
label: Provenance
content: From between 1895-1897
label: Provenance
content: George McCulloch (1848-1907), British, purchased between 1895-1897 [4]
label: Provenance
content: From 1907
label: Provenance
content: Mrs. George McCulloch, by bequest from her husband, George McCulloch, in 1907 [5]
label: Provenance
content: To 1909
label: Provenance
content: Wallis and Son, The French Gallery, London, to 1909 [6]
label: Provenance
content: From 1909 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wallis and Son, The French Gallery, through D. Croal Thomson, in 1909 [7]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [8]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] According to Curatorial Remark 3, S. Hobbs, 1977, in the object record, this painting was purchased from Whistler by Captain Henry Hill of Brighton. Upon Hill's death, it was sold at auction at Christie's, May 25, 1889, as no. 80, "Nocturne in Blue and Silver Valparaiso," to Alexander Ionides. It was then sold in May of 1892 to Sir John Day, and subsequently bought by George McCulloch, sometime between 1895 and 1897. It was bequeathed to McCulloch's widow on December 12, 1907. In July 1909, Charles Lang Freer purchased the painting from Wallis and Son, London, through D. Croal Thomson.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [4] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [5] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [6] See List of Whistler Purchases since Making up the Smithsonian Inventory, pg. 12, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [7] See note 6.
label: Provenance
content: [8] 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: A Perfect Harmony (October 14, 2017 to October 8, 2023)
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: Whistler & Japan (May 14, 1995 to January 1, 1996)
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 1834-1903 (February 6, 1985 to March 4, 1986)
label: Exhibition History
content: James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and the Landscape (May 11, 1984 to February 5, 1985)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler 1834-1903 (September 16, 1981 to March 26, 1984)
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—Landscapes and Seascapes (October 14, 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: 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, American Oil Paintings, Gallery 3, 1947 (September 25, 1947 to April 12, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Works of Whistler (September 22, 1947 to April 11, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Oil Paintings (February 12, 1944 to May 10, 1945)
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: American Paintings, J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to February 12, 1944)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, University of Michigan Club, Detroit, 1914 (1914)
label: Exhibition History
content: A Selection of Art Objects from the Freer Collection Exhibited in the New Building of the National Museum (April 15 to June 15, 1912)
label: Exhibition History
content: Paintings in Oil and Pastel by James A. McNeill Whistler (March 15 to May 31, 1910)
label: Exhibition History
content: George McCulloch's Collection of Modern Painting and Sculpture (January 4 to March 13, 1909)
label: Exhibition History
content: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler (February 22 to April 15, 1905)
label: Exhibition History
content: Comparative Exhibition of Native and Foreign Art at the Galleries of the American Fine Arts Society (November 15 to December 11, 1904)
label: Exhibition History
content: 78th Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture (Spring or Autumn of 1904)
label: Exhibition History
content: Second Exhibition of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (May to July, 1899)
label: Exhibition History
content: World's Columbian Exposition (May 1 to October 30, 1893)
label: Exhibition History
content: Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces (March through April, 1892)
label: Exhibition History
content: 105th Exhibition (1890)
label: Exhibition History
content: Winter, Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists (Winter 1887)
label: Exhibition History
content: Second Annual Exhibition of Modern Pictures, Royal Pavillion Gallery, Brighton (1875)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Capt. Henry Hill (1818-1882)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Alexander Ionides (1840-1898)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Sir John Charles Day (1826-1908)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: George McCulloch (1848-1907)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Mrs. George McCulloch
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Wallis and Son, The French Gallery (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: night
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: F1909.127a-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: 76.4 x 50.7 cm (30 1/16 x 19 15/16 in)