Red and Brown-Hoxton F1904.79a-b: Curatorial Analysis | Whistler in Watercolor

Maker nationality and date: 1834-1903

Date(s): 1885-1886

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Dimension(s): H x W: 12.5 x 21 cm (4 15/16 x 8 1/4 in)

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Object Number: F1904.79a-b

Alternate title: Oxstead, Surrey
Chelsea Shops

Production location: England, London, Hoxton, Shoreditch

Theme: Cityscape

Signature(s): Red butterfly in upper right quadrant

Inscription(s): Verso: Stair Landing (unknown hand)

Provenance: To 1904
John James Cowan (1846-1936), Edinburgh, Scotland, to 1904 [1]

From 1904 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from John James Cowan, through William Marchant and Co, London, in June 1904 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 18, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] 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.

Exhibition History: Dowdeswell and Dowdeswell, "Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes", May 1886
Unknown, Untitled exhibition, Institute of Fine Arts, Glasgow, 1896
Goupil Gallery, Pictures, Drawings, Bronzes, Pottery, Antique Furniture, Decorative Metal Work, 1898
Copley Society of Art, Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, February 23 to March 22, 1904
Royal Scottish Academy, 78th Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, Spring or Autumn of 1904

Selected Curatorial Remarks: 1. Glazer, Jacobson, McCarthy, Roeder, wall label, 2019:
Whistler was fascinated by street scenes throughout his career, from his early etchings and watercolors of the quiet village of Saverne in the Rhineland, to a busy flower market in northern France, and on to the children in his London neighborhood.

Selected Published References: 1. Curry: James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, Pg. 193
In both color and composition, Chelsea Shops [alternate title for Red and Brown–Hoxton] resembles an oil painting, Streets in Old Chelsea [Museum of Fine Arts Boston], executed by Whistler ca. 1880-1885. The oil scene can be pinpointed since it includes Maunder's Fish Shop, but in the watercolor the artist has obscured enough detail to make it difficult to ascertain the exact location. The watercolor may depict shopfronts farther up or down along the same street. A topographical drawing of Cheyne Walk west of Old Chelsea Church shows that Whistler's art works were based upon remarkably accurate observations of the busy neighborhood.

Catalogue Raisonne number: M1004
MacDonald Catalogue number

Previous owner(s): John James Cowan (C.L. Freer source) (1846-1936)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

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Red and Brown-Hoxton

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