For days I’ve been pondering and wondering what to write about for my New Year’s blog.

 

And then, I thought of the celebrating we do on New Year’s Eve to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new. Which led me to fireworks. Which led me to Whistler’s painting, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket. What better way to celebrate than with fireworks?

 

 

Between 1872 and 1877 (when the park closed), James Abbott McNeill Whistler  (1834 – 1903) painted seven oils showing various aspects of the Cremorne Gardens in London, a park that offered music, dancing, colored light shows, and spectacular fireworks. The Nocturne above was inspired by those firework (rocket) displays. Based on his observations (Whistler would go out sketching on the Thames at night) and memory, Whistler created an arrangement of darks (Black) with a scattering of light (Gold).

 

In the painting, we see the launch of numerous fireworks from a platform (known as The Grotto) as they rocket into the sky. On the platform smoke mingles with the explosive fire. In the foreground, ghostly figures watch quietly. A large dark tree rises to the left of the picture. In the Gardens, a circular ornamental garden was laid out in front of The Grotto – is this what we see here? There appear to be reflections suggesting a body of water, but apparently there was no lake in the Gardens. The Thames however, flowed close by. Is this Whistler taking artistic liberty, showing water where there was none in actuality i.e. in front of the platform? Whistler’s intent was not to capture a specific event or time or place but to create an atmospheric evocation of light and colour. And with this painting, he was undoubtedly successful. (I look forward to the day I can see the painting in the ‘real’!)

 

 

Transparency coexists with opaque areas of light: it reminds me of the later work by J.M.W.Turner.

 

 

In the above detail, you can see both the dabs of colour that seem to represent the fireworks about to explode and the sparkling remains as they fall to earth.

 

This abstracted reality was not to the liking of much of the public at the time: his compositions were empty-looking, his brushstrokes seemed slapdash.

Shown at Grosvenor Gallery in 1877, the well-known art critic John Ruskin attacked it, describing it as “a pot of paint in the public’s face.” His words were picked up by the national press and as Ruskin’s word was the artistic gospel, Whistler’s reputation was at stake. And so Whistler sued Ruskin. In the trial of 1878, Whistler laid out the idea that the value of the artwork depended not on the time it took to produce but on the artistic ability and wisdom of the artist.

 

Whistler defended his painting under cross-examination by the Attorney-General Sir John Holker:

Holker: “What is the subject of the Nocturne in Black and Gold?”

Whistler: “It is a night piece and represents the fireworks at Cremorne Gardens.”

Holker: “Not a view of Cremorne Gardens?”

Whistler: ” If it were called ‘A View of Cremorne’ it would certainly bring about nothing but disappointment on the part of the beholders. (Laughter.) It is an artistic arrangement. That is why I call it a ‘nocturne’.”

Later….

Holker: “Did it take you much time to paint the Nocturne in Black and Gold? How soon did you knock it off?”

Whistler: “Oh, I ‘knock one off’ possibly in a couple of days – (Laughter) – one day to do the work and another to finish it…”

Holker: “The labour of two days is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?”

Whistler: “No. I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime.” (Applause.)

 

Whistler won the trial but was awarded merely a farthing for damages. With all the costs of the case and other financial issues, Whistler was forced into bankruptcy in May 1879. Luckily, he soon after secured a commission for twelve etchings of Venice and it was for this reason Whistler found himself in that city for three months. (I have talked about some of the beautiful pastel sketches he made there in a previous blog.)

 

 

Thank you so much for spending time with me, for being such a loyal subscriber and reader. I couldn’t, wouldn’t, be here without you.

 

Wishing you a most happy, healthy and wondrous New Year! It’s gonna be a good one!!!

~ Gail

 

 

My New Year’s gift to you – Mary Oliver’s poem about transformation.

 

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.

 

 

PS.  The book I got much of my info from was one given to me many many years ago by my good friend Zig. It’s a wonderful exhibition catalogue full of coloured plates and great info!