Southend–Sunset F1905.119a-b: Curatorial Analysis | Whistler in Watercolor

Maker nationality and date: 1834-1903

Date(s): 1882-1884

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Dimension(s): H x W: 25.5 x 17.9 cm (10 1/16 x 7 1/16 in)

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Object Number: F1905.119a-b

Production location: England, Southend-on-Sea

Theme: Seascape

Signature(s): Unsigned.

Provenance: To 1905
Thomas Way Sr. (1827-1915), London, or Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), London, to 1905 [1]

From 1905 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Thomas Way Sr. or Thomas Robert Way in 1905 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 20B, 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.

Selected Curatorial Remarks: 1. Glazer, Jacobson, McCarthy, Roeder, wall label, 2019:
While traditional landscapes held little interest for Whistler, he claimed, "The sea to me, is, and always was, most fascinating!" Rendered with simplicity, his seascapes of Southend, a popular seaside destination south of London, rely on broad washes of color with sparse detail. Whistler was a master at creating a mixture of pigments that produced a tonally balanced palette. His seascapes were often organized in a three-part composition of sky, sea, and shore.
2. Katherine Roeder, 2018:
Changed title from "Southend: Sunset" to "Southend–Sunset" and changed date from 1880s to 1882-1884. Southend scenes were painted after JMW's supply purchase in fall of 1881, and prior to the spring Dowdeswell Gallery exhibition of 1884.

Selected Published References: 1. Curry: James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, Pg. 185
During the early 1880s Whistler executed several watercolor views of Southend on paper this size. However, Southend: Sunset is much more abstract and is executed in a rococo-inspired pink and blue palette first seen in architectural decorations of the late 1860s, such as the "Six Projects." Whistler tends to divide landscapes into horizontal bands of color, three or four in number. His treatment of nature does not differ significantly from his designs for walls. Similar color schemes in striated registers can also be found in Whistler's designs for rugs [JMW, Design for a rug, pastel on brown paper, the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Grenville L Winthrop bequest].

Catalogue Raisonne number: M889
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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Southend–Sunset

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