Flower Market: Dieppe F1907.171a-b: Curatorial Analysis | Whistler in Watercolor

Maker nationality and date: 1834-1903

Date(s): 1885

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Dimension(s): H x W: 12.8 x 21 cm (5 1/16 x 8 1/4 in)

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Object Number: F1907.171a-b

Production location: France, Dieppe

Theme: Cityscape

Signature(s): Unsigned.

Provenance: To 1907
Obach & Co., London, to 1907 [1]

From 1907 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Obach & Co. in 1907 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] See List of Whistler Purchases Since Making Up the Smithsonian Inventory, pg. 4, 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.

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. 194
A letter written by Walter Sickert confirms that Flower Market: Dieppe was one of several watercolors given to him by Whistler and that it was painted in 1885. The master was visiting his pupil in Dieppe that September. Whistler also painted a number of oils, including Grey and Brown: The Sad Sea Shore [F1914.2]. In contrast to the gloomy beach scene, Whistler's view of the flower market is exuberant, full of bright light in which the colorful blossoms, the awnings, and some of the women's costumes vibrate in joyous visual harmony, dominated by complementary blues and oranges. Earlier in 1885, Whistler had delivered his Ten O'Clock Lecture for the first time. Among the many epigrammatic passages was his observation that the artist "delights in the dainty–the sharp, bright gaiety of beauty."

Catalogue Raisonne number: M1026
MacDonald Catalogue number

Previous owner(s): Obach & Co. (C.L. Freer source) (1884-1911)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0): This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections..

Flower Market: Dieppe

Web Resources