- Nocturne in Black and Gold
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Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket 
Artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler Year circa 1872-77 Type Oil on canvas Dimensions 60.3 cm × 46.6 cm (23.7 in × 18.3 in) Location Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is an 1870s painting by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. It depicts a fireworks show in the night sky over Battersea Bridge in an industrial London city park.
This painting was first shown at the Grosvenor Gallery in London in 1877. It is the last of the London Nocturnes and is now widely acknowledged to be the high point of Whistler's middle period.
The gold flecks and splatters represent the exploded fireworks in the night sky. The fireworks light up the sky, producing a glow in the thick air and billowing smoke. The artist was more interested in conveying atmospheric effects than he was in providing details of the actual scene.[1]
Whistler manages to paint darkness while retaining the right degree of colour-laden luminosity. There is a sense of spatial ambiguity set against a structure of line and form. The contradictory qualities of energy and stillness are combined here.
The painting was controversial. Art critic John Ruskin criticized the painting harshly, commenting that "The ill-educated conceit of the artist... approached the aspect of willful imposture... I have seen, and heard, much of Cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face."[2] In response to the comments, Whistler sued Ruskin for libel. Whistler won the suit, but was awarded only trivial damages.[3] It has been suggested John Ruskin suffered from CADASIL and the visual disturbances this condition caused him might have been a factor in his irritation at this particular painting.[4]
References
- ^ Helen Gardner, et al. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. Thompson Wadsworth, 2004. 1054.
- ^ Natasha Wallace. Whistler's Nocturne in Black and Gold The Falling Rocket. March 31, 2005.
- ^ Whistler, James Abbott McNeill. WebMuseumn, Paris
- ^ Kempster PA, Alty JE. (2008). John Ruskin's relapsing encephalopathy. Brain. Sep;131(Pt 9):2520-5. doi:10.1093/brain/awn019 PMID 18287121
Portrait of Whistler with Hat (1858) · Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (1862) · Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl (1864–65) · Symphony in White, No. 3 (1865–67) · Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother (1871) · Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Chelsea (1871) · Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge (c. 1872) · Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle (1873) · Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket (c. 1875) · Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (1876–77) · Portrait of Lady Meux (1881) · Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian (1888–1900)Categories:- 1870s paintings
- James McNeill Whistler paintings
- Collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts
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