James McNeill Whistler, The Angry Sea
Gift of Charles Lang Freer · National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Open Access (CC0)View original →
James McNeill Whistler

The Angry Sea

1883 or 1884

Current Collection

National Museum of Asian Art

Washington, D.C., United States

Medium
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions
12.4 × 21.7 cm
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-126421

The Angry Sea is one of the sparest and most abstract of Whistler's small oils. When Whistler exhibited it at the Dowdeswells' gallery in 1884, unsympathetic reviewers complained that paintings like this were mere daubs, dismissing such efforts as unfinished sketches not fit for public display. The fashion writer for the Court Circular damned The Angry Sea with ironic praise, noting that "this wo…

Provenance

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Registry history

  • 1883 or 1884 — Recorded in the collection of National Museum of Asian Art

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