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Opal Beach

Asian Art Museum

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    Object Details

    Artist

    James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

    Description

    Several figures scattered along a broad beach; the sea in the distance; unsigned.

    Signatures

    Unsigned.

    Paper/Support

    On cold-pressed, wove paper mounted overall to board. The paper support is mounted on top of a manufactured board that already had a facing paper.

    Provenance

    To 1902
    Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934), London, to 1902 [1]
    From 1902 to 1919
    Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Henry Studdy Theobald in 1902 [2]
    From 1920
    Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
    Notes:
    [1] See Original Whistler List, Purchases from Thoebald, pg. 8, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 1, August 1902,
    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.

    Collection

    Freer Gallery of Art Collection

    Exhibition History

    Whistler in Watercolor (May 18 to November 3, 2019)
    Mr. Whistler's Galleries: Avant-garde in Victorian London, 1883 (November 20, 2003 to April 4, 2004)
    Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Watercolors, Oil Paintings, and Pastels (January 20, 1944 to October 13, 1947)
    Whistler Pastels and Drawings, Re-arranged and some additions (January 7, 1924 to January 20, 1944)
    Whistler Water Colors (January 7, 1924 to April 4, 1930)
    American Paintings, Pastels, and Water Colors, and Drawings. J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 7, 1924)
    Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler (May 1905)
    "Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes" (May 1884)

    Previous custodian or owner

    Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934) (C.L. Freer source)
    Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

    Credit Line

    Gift of Charles Lang Freer

    Date

    1882-1884

    Accession Number

    F1902.170a-c

    Restrictions & Rights

    CC0

    Type

    Painting

    Medium

    Watercolor on paper

    Dimensions

    H x W: 17.7 x 25.3 cm (6 15/16 x 9 15/16 in)

    Origin

    United States

    Related Online Resources

    Google Arts & Culture
    Whistler in Watercolor

    See more items in

    National Museum of Asian Art

    Data Source

    National Museum of Asian Art

    Topic

    mounting
    bone black
    cerulean blue
    cobalt blue
    Prussian blue
    raw sienna
    vermilion
    zinc white
    Mars pigment
    yellow ocher
    ultramarine
    water
    ocean
    United States
    American Art
    Charles Lang Freer collection

    Metadata Usage

    CC0

    Link to Original Record

    http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3ccd932d9-1f66-4310-a14d-a600086b7862

    Record ID

    fsg_F1902.170a-c

    Discover More

    Blue Beach from the SAAM

    A Day at the Beach

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