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1877, James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne: Cremorne Gardens, No. 3 -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)

From the museum label: Pale rectangles of light punctuate the darkness in this Nocturne, part of Whistler's Cremorne Gardens series. Whistler offers a glimpse of a couple in evening dress leaving a theater or restaurant-a gesture to the business of sex work that flourished at this pleasure resort on Chelsea's west edge. The built environment-the dimly lit porch, sanded pathways, and secluded supper boxes-would play a larger role in the shop fronts and streetscapes. Whistler's first streetscape painting featured the dingy gridded windows of a junk shop. Amid the clutter for sale within, a framed picture represents what Whistler called "art relegated to the curiosity shop."

 

Link to other paintings from the exhibition Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change.

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Uploaded on November 27, 2023
Taken on November 27, 2023