Note in Blue and Opal–Jersey F1904.83a-b: Curatorial Analysis | Whistler in Watercolor

Maker nationality and date: 1834-1903

Date(s): 1881

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Dimension(s): H x W: 13.8 x 25.5 cm (5 7/16 x 10 1/16 in)

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Object Number: F1904.83a-b

Production location: Jersey

Theme: Seascape

Signature(s): Blue butterfly in lower left quadrant

Provenance: To 1904
Thomas Way Sr. (1827-1915), London, or Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), London, to 1904 [1]

From 1904 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Thomas Way Sr. or Thomas Robert Way in 1904 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 20, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Thomas Way Sr. and his son, Thomas Robert Way, were lithographers who worked closely with Whistler on several of his projects. They helped with the printing of his etchings, as well as the printing of Whistler’s promotional materials. Both Thomas Way Sr. and Thomas Robert Way owned many Whistler works. Thomas Way Sr. acquired several of these works at the time of Whistler’s bankruptcy, and he passed some of them on to his son (see The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, 1855-1903, ed. Margaret F. MacDonald, Patricia de Montfort and Nigel Thorp, On-line Edition, People, biographies of Thomas Way and Thomas Robert Way; http://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence).

Charles Lang Freer acquired many Whistler pieces from the Ways. However, museum records do not always specify whether it was the younger or elder Way who was the source of a particular object. Further, archival sources indicate that the junior Way sometimes acted on behalf of his father: whilst negotiating the sale of his own Whistler works to C.L. Freer, he would concurrently negotiate the sale of some of his father’s Whistler works to Freer. In cases where it is unclear whether it was the junior or senior Way who actually owned a piece acquired by C.L. Freer, the provenance record will simply state that the object was purchased from “Thomas Way Sr. or Thomas Robert Way.”

[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: Grosvenor Gallery, Sixth Summer Exhibition, 1882
Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, 1887
Palais de l'École des Beaux-Art, Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler, May 1905
Smithsonian American Art Museum, A Selection of Art Objects from the Freer Collection Exhibited in the New Building of the National Museum, April 15 to June 15, 1912

Selected Curatorial Remarks: 1. Glazer, Jacobson, McCarthy, Roeder, wall label, 2019:
"Mr. Whistler is about to surprise both his friends and his detractors by appearing in the new character of the watercolour artist," a reporter wrote in 1881. London Bridge was not Whistler's first watercolor, but he wanted it understood as his origin story. He sought to position himself as the heir to Britain's watercolor tradition and the preeminent artist of its future.
In technique, London Bridge was among the last watercolors in which Whistler employed underdrawing. It was also one of the last he created with cobalt blue paint. Shortly before traveling to the Channel Islands in 1881, Whistler purchased new watercolor materials and switched to cerulean blue paint, which was less expensive. He used cerulean blue in his seascapes, including Note in Blue and Opal–Jersey.

Selected Published References: 1. Curry: James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, Pg. 181
Note in Blue and Opal: Jersey was probably painted early in 1881. Whistler's mother died in Hastings on 31 January 1881. Shortly thereafter, Whistler painted seascapes in Jersey and Guernsey before leasing a flat and studio at 13 Tite Street in Chelsea on 22 March 1881. Whistler used brilliant blues to capture the bracing effect of winter sunshine and brisk sea air.

Catalogue Raisonne number: M857
MacDonald Catalogue number

Previous owner(s): Thomas Way Sr. (1837-1915)
Thomas Robert Way (C.L. Freer source) (1861-1913)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

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Note in Blue and Opal–Jersey

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