Nocturne (The River at Battersea)

Nocturne (The River at Battersea) is James McNeill Whistler's distillation from memory of a familiar scene, London's industrial district of Battersea, which he often viewed across the River Thames from his home in the riverbank neighborhood of Chelsea. To achieve the moody, evocative effect of this nocturne, Whistler brushed diluted tusche washes onto a specially treated lithography stone, creating subtle, painterly tones that suggest a solitary barge, the river's reflective surface, and the Battersea riverbank, a shadowy silhouette of warehouses, factory chimneys, and an illuminated clock tower enveloped by evening fog. Although a few impressions were printed in 1878, the print was actually published in 1887; this impression is one of the 1887 edition printed on blue-gray paper for a portfolio titled "Notes."

  Since 1859, the River Thames, London's great waterway, had inspired many of Whistler's paintings, as well as his successful series of etchings called "The Thames Set," which included The Lime-Burner (TF 1995.4) and Rotherhithe (TF 1995.5). During the 1870s, Whistler created evocative paintings of various London scenes partly obscured by atmospheric veils of fog, murky shadow, and twilight, which he termed "nocturnes." In 1878, he began experimenting in lithography and lithotint under the technical guidance of London printer Thomas Way. Working in Way's shop, he made lithographs that exploited the medium's grainy tones to convey the softening effect of London's typical atmospheric conditions. Among the artist's most successful lithotints, this print shows Whistler's earliest efforts working tonally in a printmaking medium.

In his 1885 "Ten O'Clock" lecture, Whistler may have been alluding to this print when he declared:  "And when the evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and the poor buildings lose themselves in the dim sky, and the tall chimneys become campanili, and the warehouses are palaces in the night, and the whole city hangs in the heavens, and fairy-land is before us—then the wayfarer hastens home…and Nature… sings her exquisite song to the artist alone…."

Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 11–October 31, 1997.

The Decorative Form: The Aesthetic Movement, Arts & Crafts and the Asian Influence in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 16–December 5, 1999.

Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]

Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865–1945, Art Institute of Chicago and Terra Foundation for American Art (organizers). Venue:  Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China, September 28, 2018–January 6, 2019.   [exh. cat.]

The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context (L’atelier de la Nature, 1860-1910. Invitation à la Terra Collection). Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny (organizers). Venue: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, France, September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021. [exh. cat. in French]

 

Way, T. R. Mr. Whistler's Lithographs: The Catalogue. 2nd ed. New York: H. Wunderlich & Company, 1905. No. 5.

Levy, Mervyn. Whistler Lithographs: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné. London, England: Jupiter Books, 1975. No. 10.

Hobbs, Susan and Nesta R. Spink. Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler from the Collection of Steven Louis Block. (exh. cat., Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, 1982. Text pp. 8, 9; no. 3.

Adams, Clinton. American Lithographers 1900–1960: The Artists and Their Printers. Albuquerque, New Mexico: The University of New Mexico Press, 1983. Text p. 8.

Lochnan, Katharine A. Whistler and His Circle: Etchings and Lithographs from the Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario. (exh. cat., Kitchener/Waterloo Art Gallery). Toronto, Ontario: The Gallery, 1986. No. 23, pp. 46–47.

Dorment, Richard and Margaret F. MacDonald et al. James McNeill Whistler. (exh. cat., Tate Gallery). London, England: Tate Gallery, 1994. No. 53, p. 129.

Stratis, Harriet K. and Martha Tedeschi, eds. The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler. Vol. 1. A Catalogue Raisonné. Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998. No. 8, pp. 63–66.

Cartwright, Derrick R. Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text pp. 21, 28 (checklist); fig. 16, p. 21 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Cartwright, Derrick R. Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text pp. 21, 28 (checklist); fig. 16, p. 21 (black & white). [specific reference to Terra print]

Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865–1945. (exh. cat. Shanghai Museum with Art Institute of Chicago and Terra Foundation for American Art). Shanghai: Shanghai Museum, 2018. Text p. 56; ill. p. 61 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine and Valerie Reis. The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context. (exh. cat, Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny). Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2020.  Text p. 51; Pl. 30, p. 95 (color).