James McNeill Whistler
Blue and Silver: Screen, with Old Battersea Bridge
Blue and Silver: Screen, with Old Battersea Bridge, 1871-1872. Distemper and gold paint on brown paper laid on canvas stretched on back of silk; 195.0 x 182.0cm (fully open, in frame).
Whistler originally painted this screen for his patron, Liverpool shipping magnate, F. R. Leyland, but instead kept it for his own studio. The scene is an impression of the River Thames at night; the clock tower of Chelsea Church can be seen on the left panel. The frame is decorated with painted flowers and a series of double lines, which suggest bamboo stems.
Image copyright © Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow.