In the early 1870s James McNeill Whistler took a radical step toward abstraction with his Nocturnes series. In keeping with his art-for-art\u2019s-sake creed, these works capture the stillness of evening while evoking a connection to music. Unlike his earlier marine paintings, the subject of this work\u2014an inlet along the English Channel near Southampton\u2014is obscured by the approaching night. Large shipping vessels appear as ghostly shapes, reduced to shadowy forms by the deepening twilight, while the only points of brightness come from the subtle reflections of lights and the fragmented orb of the moon. The setting thus serves primarily as a vehicle for Whistler\u2019s interest in the harmonies of muted color amid darkness.<\/p>\n","short_description":"In the 1870s James McNeill Whistler took a radical step toward abstraction with his \"Nocturnes\" series. In keeping with his art-for-art\u2019s-sake creed, these works capture the stillness of evening while evoking the artistry of music. The subject of this work\u2014an inlet along the English Channel\u2014is obscured by the approaching night, allowing Whistler to fully explore the tonal harmonies of darkness.","dimensions":"51 \u00d7 76.7 cm (20 1\/16 \u00d7 30 3\/16 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":76,"height":51,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas","inscriptions":"Artist insignia recto, right-bottom, on water, in yellow paint: [butterfly].","credit_line":"Stickney Fund","catalogue_display":"
MacDonald YMSM 117<\/p>","publication_history":"Copley Society, Loan Collection [of] Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler<\/em>, exh. cat. (Copley Society, 1904), 9, cat. 58, as Nocturne, Southampton Water<\/em>.\n\nElisabeth L. Cary, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study with a Tentative List of the Artist\u2019s Works (New York, 1907), no. 58, 165.\n\nBernhard Sickert, Whistler (Duckworth & Co. & E.P. Dutton & Co., n.d.), 145, 161, cat. 77 (ill.).\n\nJoseph and Elizabeth R. Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols. (London & Philadelphia, 1908), Vol. I, 167, Vol. II, ill. facing p. 108.\n\nBulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 3 (1910): 34.\n\nJames W. Lane, Whistler (New York, 1942), 112 (ill.).\n\nLife Magazine 36 (May 17, 1954): 9\u201395, ill.\n\nPaintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961), 483.\n\nDenys Sutton, James McNeill Whistler: Paintings, Etchings, Pastels, and Watercolors (London: Phaidon Press, 1966), 192, pl. 83.\n\nDonald Holden, Whistler Landscapes and Seascapes (New York, 1969), 34\u201335, ill. p. 35, pl. 7.\n\nMichael Edward Shapiro and Peter H. Hassrick, Frederic Remington, the Masterworks (Abrams, 1988), fig. 22, 49, ill.\n\nMilo M. Naeve, \u201cThe Edwardian Era and Patrons of American Art at The Art Institute of Chicago: The Birth of a Tradition,\u201d America\u2019s International Exposition of Fine Arts and Antiques (The Lakeside Group, 1988), fig. 2, 22, ill.\n\nTom Armstrong, \u201cThe New Field\u2013McCormick Galleries in the Art Institute of Chicago,\" Magazine Antiques 134, 4 (October 1988), 822\u2013835, discussed p. 834, pl. XII p. 830.\n\nJudith A. Barter, ed., Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago<\/em>, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), 124\u20136, fig. 7 (ill.).\n\nJudith A. Barter, et al., The Age of American Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago<\/em> (Art Institute of Chicago, 2011), cat. 13.\n\nLeonard S. Marcus, Randolph Caldecott: The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing (Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2013), ill.\n\nPaintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, Highlights of the Collection, (Art Institute of Chicago\/Yale University Press, 2017), 62.\n\nYang Zhigang, ed., Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865\u20131945<\/em>, exh. cat. (Shanghai Book and Painting Press, 2018), cat. 17.\n\nMargaret F. MacDonald and Grischka Petri, \"Nocturne: Blue and Gold-Southampton Water,\" The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler: A Catalogue Raisonn\u00e9<\/em>, University of Glasgow, accessed June 3, 2020, cat. YMSM 117 (ill.), https:\/\/whistlerpaintings.gla.ac.uk\/catalogue\/display\/?mid=y117<\/a>.\n\nJay A. Clarke and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago<\/em> (Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), cat. 16 (ill.), http:\/\/artic.edu\/digitalwhistler<\/a>.\n\nMiguel Gaete, \"Aesthetic Mercenary: Whistler in Valpara\u00edso,\" in James McNeill Whistler<\/em>, ed. Carol Jacobi, exh. cat. (Tate Enterprises, 2026), 87, no cat. no. (ill.).","exhibition_history":"Probably London, Dudley Gallery, 1872, cat. 187, as Nocturne in Grey and Gold.\n\nPossibly London, International Exhibition, 1873, cat. 1556, as Nocturne in Grey and Gold.\n\nPossibly London, Pall Mall, Mr. Whistler\u2019s Exhibition, 1874, cat. 10, as Nocturne in Grey and Gold.\n\nLondon, Grosvenor Gallery, Summer Exhibition, May 1879, cat. 193, as Nocturne in Blue and Gold.\n\nLondon, The Grosvenor Gallery, 1882, cat. 106.\n\nPossibly Paris, Petit Palais, 1883, cat. 7 as Nocturne en bleu et or.\n\nLondon, Goupil Gallery, Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Mar\u2013Apr. 1892, cat. 30.\n\nPossibly London, Goupil Gallery, 1898, cat. 25, as Nocturne\u2014Blue and Gold.\n\nPhiladelphia, The Academy of Fine Arts, Late 1900 to about Mar. 1, 1901.\n\nBoston, Copley Hall, Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler: Oil Paintings, Watercolors, Pastels, and Drawings<\/em>, Feb. 1904, cat. 58, as Nocturne, Southampton Water<\/em> (organized by the Copley Society).\n\nLondon, The New Gallery, Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late James McNeill Whistler, Feb. 22\u2013Apr. 15, 1905, cat. 9.\n\nParis, Palais de L\u2019Ecole des Beaux\u2013Arts, Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler, May 1905, cat. 67.\n\nCincinnati Art Museum, Seventeenth Annual Exhibition of American Art, May 21\u2013July 20, 1910, cat. 210.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture<\/em><\/a>, May 23\u2013Oct. 31, 1933, cat. 489.\n\nNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Landscape Paintings, May 14\u2013Sept. 30, 1934, cat. 76.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Summer Exhibitions, July 20\u2013Oct. 29, 1939, cat. 4.\n\nArt Gallery of Toronto, Loan Exhibition of Great Paintings in Aid of Allied Merchant Seamen, Feb. 5\u2013Mar. 5, 1944, cat. 90.\n\nNew York, The William MacBeth Inc., Whistler Exhibition, Apr. 17\u2013May 14, 1947, cat. 15.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Cassatt, Sargent, and Whistler, Jan. 14\u2013Feb. 25, 1954, cat. 116; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mar. 25\u2013May 23.\n\nPeoria, IL, Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Two Hundred Years of American Painting, 1965, no catalogue numbers or page numbers but reproduced in black and white.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, James McNeill Whistler, Jan. 13, 1968\u2013Feb. 25, 1968, cat. 20; Utica, NY, Munson\u2013Williams\u2013Proctor Institute, Mar. 17, 1968\u2013Apr. 28, 1968.\n\nBerlin, Nationalgalerie Staatliche Museen Preussicher Kulturbesitz, James McNeil Whistler (1834\u20131903), 1969, cat. 31.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Art at the Time of the Centennial<\/em><\/a>, June 19\u2013Aug. 15, 1976, no cat., as Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water<\/em>.\n\nNew York, Museum of Modern Art, The Natural Paradise: Painting in America, 1800\u20131950<\/em>, Sept. 29\u2013Nov. 30, 1976, cat., as Nocturne in Black and Cold, Entrance to Southampton Water<\/em>.\n\nAlbi, France, Mus\u00e9e Toulouse\u2013Lautrec, Tr\u00e9sors Impressionnistes du Mus\u00e9e de Chicago, June 27\u2013Aug. 31, 1980, Jean Devoisins, cat. 59.\n\nNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, In Pursuit of Beauty, Americans and the Aesthetic Movement, Oct. 23, 1986\u2013Jan. 11, 1987, Doreen Bolger Burke, et al., fig. 9.20, ill. p. 333.\n\nNagaoka, Japan, Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Masterworks of Modern Art from the Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 20\u2013May 29, 1994; Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, June 10\u2013July 24; Yokohama Museum of Art, Aug. 6\u2013Sept. 25, 1994.\n\nLondon, Tate Gallery, James McNeill Whistler, Oct. 13, 1994\u2013Jan. 8, 1995, Richard Dorment and Margaret F. MacDonald, cat. no. 48, ill. p. 125; Paris, Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay, Feb. 6\u2013Apr. 30, 1995; Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, May 28\u2013Aug. 20, 1995.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Songs on Stone: James McNeill Whistler and the Art of Lithography, June 6\u2013Aug. 30, 1998; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Oct. 2, 1998\u2013Jan. 3, 1999.\n\nBiblioth\u00e8que Nationale de France, Paris Proust, Nov. 9, 1999\u2013Feb. 2, 2000.\n\nAtlanta, High Museum of Art, After Whistler: The Artist and His Influence on American Painting, Nov. 22, 2003\u2013Feb. 8, 2004, p. 106, ill.; Detroit Institute of Arts, Mar. 13\u2013June 6, 2004.\n\nToronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, Turner Whistler Monet: Impressionist Visions, June 12\u2013Sept. 12, 2004, Katherine Lochnan, no. 44, ill.; Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Oct. 12, 2004\u2013Jan. 17, 2005; London, Tate Britain, Feb. 10\u2013May 15, 2005.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Whistler and Roussel: Linked Visions, June 20, 2015\u2013Sept. 27, 2015, online catalog.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Whistler's Mother: An American Icon Returns to Chicago, Mar. 4\u2013May 21, 2017, no cat.\n\nShanghai Museum, Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865\u20131945<\/em>, Sept. 28, 2018\u2013Jan. 6, 2019, cat. 17.","provenance_text":"The artist, 1872; Alfred Chapman (1839\u20131917), London, June 1874 [letter from James McNeill Whistler to James Alfred Chapman, June 22, 1874, GUW 11251<\/a>]. H. Wunderlich and Co., New York, by January 1900 [letter from James McNeill Whistler to John James Cowan, January 6, 1900, GUW 00739<\/a>]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1900.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":21,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":true,"has_educational_resources":true,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":6.4541,"color":{"h":37,"l":44,"s":21,"percentage":0.001277816467220813,"population":6},"latitude":41.8793567751418,"longitude":-87.6220261874886,"latlon":"41.879356775142,-87.622026187489","is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":" On loan to Tate Britain in London for James McNeill Whistler<\/i><\/p>","gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Arts of the Americas","department_id":"PC-3","artist_id":37279,"artist_title":"James McNeill Whistler","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[37279],"artist_titles":["James McNeill Whistler"],"category_ids":["PC-109","PC-831","PC-3"],"category_titles":["Art Institute Icons","Essentials","Arts of the Americas"],"term_titles":["painting","landscapes","oil paint (paint)","Impressionism","oil painting","organic material","american arts","water","weather\/seasons","night scenes","Century of Progress","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs","painting (image making)","Modernism"],"style_id":"TM-7543","style_title":"Impressionism","alt_style_ids":["TM-5981"],"style_ids":["TM-7543","TM-5981"],"style_titles":["Impressionism","Modernism"],"classification_id":"TM-9","classification_title":"painting","alt_classification_ids":["TM-2191"],"classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-2191"],"classification_titles":["painting","american arts"],"subject_id":"TM-8657","alt_subject_ids":["TM-8681","TM-10095","TM-8868","TM-12169","TM-11299","TM-12176"],"subject_ids":["TM-8657","TM-8681","TM-10095","TM-8868","TM-12169","TM-11299","TM-12176"],"subject_titles":["landscapes","water","weather\/seasons","night scenes","Century of Progress","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":["TM-2601"],"material_ids":["TM-2451","TM-2601"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)","organic material"],"technique_id":"TM-4273","alt_technique_ids":["TM-3891"],"technique_ids":["TM-4273","TM-3891"],"technique_titles":["oil painting","painting (image making)"],"theme_titles":["Art Institute Icons","Essentials"],"image_id":"50034c7f-ce51-00f1-430e-a6f7efc233fc","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":["3e365fa3-fe02-4fc6-a2f3-75221d6cebe0","f85bee6b-d18b-5577-a9e6-f429421b4654"],"sound_ids":["3e365fa3-fe02-4fc6-a2f3-75221d6cebe0"],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":["f85bee6b-d18b-5577-a9e6-f429421b4654"],"section_ids":[11110],"section_titles":["Cat. 16 Nocturne: Blue and Gold\u2014Southampton Water, 1872"],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"Nocturne: Blue and Gold\u2014Southampton Water","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1900.52"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Nocturne: Blue and Gold\u2014Southampton Water"],"weight":30653,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-09-01T00:30:01-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-01T03:32:03-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-01T23:15:57-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.15"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}