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Nocturne: Blue and Gold, St Mark's, Venice

WHISTLER, James Abbot McNeill (1834 - 1903)

Nocturne: Blue and Gold, St Mark's, Venice

Date: 1880

Media: oil on canvas

Size: 44.5 x 59.7 cm

Acquired: 1952; Bequest; Gwendoline Davies

Accession Number: NMW A 210

Collection: The Davies Sisters Collection

Following his bankruptcy in 1879, Whistler spent a year in Venice where he concentrated on etchings and pastels. Only three oil paintings, produced largely from memory in the evenings, survive from this visit. This unconventional view includes the Torre' del Orologio at the left. The southernmost portal of St. Mark's is cut off at the right. The intense points of white light are gas lamps. Whistler once observed that this work was the best of his nocturnes. Gwendoline Davies purchased it in 1912.

Comments (1)

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17 January 2016, 19:22
I just saw this painting at your museum today. This work features some amazing subtle light and dark textures. I could have stared at this painting for hours.
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