James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne
Brooks, 1941.89 · The Cleveland Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0)View original →
James McNeill Whistler

Nocturne

1878

Current Collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Medium
lithograph on chine collé
Dimensions
17.1 × 26 cm
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-216499

Whistler was the first to borrow musical terms for the titles of his works of art. In 1872, he defined painting as "the exact correlative of music, as vague, as purely emotional, as released from all functions of representation." Whistler’s use of musical terminology was meant to convey the supremacy of color, line, and form over subject matter in his art. The title Nocturne was suggested by the artist’s patron, Frederick Leyland, an enthusiastic amateur pianist who was especially fond of Chopin, whose nocturnes were regarded as the epitome of Romantic mood music—particularly appropriate for …

Provenance

Brooks, 1941.89

Registry history

  • 1878 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — prints

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