A Freshening Breeze

A Freshening Breeze depicts the harbor of one of two English coastal sites—St. Ives in Cornwall or Southend-on-Sea in Essex—that the London-based expatriate James McNeill Whistler visited in 1883. Rapidly painted in thin washes, this small work provides a lofty glimpse of beached boats along the strand, choppy gray water dotted with vessels, and a densely overcast sky. A pier extending into the sea from the right edge and sewage pipes running from the beach into the water provide a horizontal counterpoint to the composition’s narrow verticality, a feature that recalls the Japanese woodblock prints Whistler greatly admired. The rising wind seems on the verge of blowing a hunched figure beyond the boundaries of the image. Along the lower edge, the stylized butterfly that served as the artist’s signature appears almost as an object casually placed on the beach, part of Whistler’s quickly observed, mundane, and virtually monochromatic rendering of a cold, windy day at the shore.

By 1883, Whistler was reentering the London art world and recovering from the damage to both his finances and his reputation that he had suffered as a result of his lawsuit for libel against the prominent English art critic John Ruskin (1819–1900). In this period Whistler worked in several media—notably watercolor, pastel, and oil painting—in small-scale works he executed rapidly and often on the spot. These were not only more saleable than large-scale canvases, they directly challenged the convention of the grand, highly finished “exhibition piece” on which many contemporary artists staked their critical fortunes. Whistler dubbed his casual, sketch-like works “notes,” “harmonies,” and “nocturnes”—all names for musical forms of composition—to draw attention to the correspondence between music and painting: just as beauty is made in music through the harmonious arrangement of aural tones, he insisted, so beauty in visual art results from the harmonious arrangement of colors, lines, and shapes, independent of any imposed meaning or narrative. This revolutionary concept of art, shocking in its day, laid the foundation for artistic modernism.

Ships and harbors had long been among Whistler’s favorite subjects. In the early 1880s he visited various coastal locations in England, France, and Holland and produced several small panel paintings on marine themes, among them A Freshening Breeze, in addition to views of quaint shop fronts. In these works, Whistler experimented with extreme economy in the representation of objects and settings to create “impressions”—summary evocations of a scene that emphasize the decorative over the descriptive. Playing at the boundary between representation and abstraction, these paintings anticipated modernist developments in art at the turn of the century.

Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, New Gallery, London, England, February 22–April 15, 1905. [exh. cat.]

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

An American Revelation: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 28–October 1, 1988.

Whistler and His Circle, Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota, April 9–June 25, 1989. [exh. cat.]

Regard sur James Abbott McNeill Whistler (James Abbott McNeill Whistler at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 30, 1994 (on exhibit partial run: April 1–September 18, 2004).

James McNeill Whistler: Retrospective Exhibition, 1994–1995, Tate Gallery, London, England, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, France (Musée d'Orsay) and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venues: Tate Gallery, London, England, October 12, 1994–January 8, 1995; Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, France (Musée d'Orsay), February 6–April 30, 1995; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 28–August 20, 1995. [exh. cat.]

American Treasures: Chase, Whistler, and the Prendergasts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 26, 1996–January 5, 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.]

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Modern Harmonies: Whistler Reflects on his Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 31–August 31, 2003.

Studied Abroad: Painted Impressions from the Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 6, 2003–April 4, 2004.

Whistler and Russia, British Council and State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia (organizers). Venues: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia, December 7, 2006–February 15, 2007. [exh. cat.].

Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, NY and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL (organizers). Venues: National Museum of China, Beijing, China, February 9-April 5, 2007; Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China, April 30-June 30, 2007; Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, April 30-June 30, 2007. (Shanghai presentations ran concurrently); The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, July 23–September 9, 2007; Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain, October 15, 2007–April 27, 2008 (exhibited in Bilbao). [exh. cat.]

The Orient Expressed: Japan's Influence on Western Art, 1854–1918, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Mississippi (organizer). Venues: Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Mississippi, February 19–July 17, 2011; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas, October 5, 2011–January 15, 2012. [exh. cat.]

American Impressionism: a New Vision, 1880–1900 (L'Impressionnisme et les Américains/ Impresionismo Americano (French & Spanish titles), Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France and the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizers). Venues: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France, March 28–June 29, 2014; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, July 19–October 19, 2014; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, November 4, 2014–February 1, 2015. [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]

Lavery, John, A. Ludovici, and J. Pennell. Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers. (exh. cat., New Gallery). London, England: New Gallery, 1905. Ill. p. 112.

Pennell, Joseph and Elizabeth Robins. The Life of James McNeill Whistler. Vol. 2. London, England and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: W. Heinemann and J. B. Lippincott Company, 1908. Ill. p. 178 (black & white).

Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, and Robin Spencer with the assistance of Hamish Miles. The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler. New Haven, Connecticut and London, England: Yale University Press, 1980. Text no. 275, p. 145; pl. 187 (black & white).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-36, p. 145 (color).

Dorment, Richard and Margaret F. MacDonald et al. James McNeill Whistler. (exh. cat., Tate Gallery). London, England: Tate Gallery, 1994. Text no. 141, p. 225; ill. no. 141, p. 225 (color).

Andreeva, Galina and Margaret F. MacDonald et al. Whistler and Russia. (exh. cat., State Tretyakov Gallery). Moscow, Russia: State Tretyakov Gallery, 2006. Text no. 18, p. 283, ill. p. 46 (color).
The Orient Expressed: Japan's Influence on Western Art, 1854–1918. (exh. cat., Mississippi Museum of Art). Jackson, Mississippi: Mississippi Museum of Art, 2011. Text p. 52, cat. no. 198, p. 185 (checklist); ill. fig. 69, p. 53 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. American Impressionism: A New Vision 1880–1900. (exh. cat., Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, National Galleries of Scotland, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza). Giverny, France: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, 2014. (English, French and Spanish versions). Ill. p. 122 (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. 45; Pl. 26, p. 91 (color).