Symphony in Grey: Early Morning, Thames

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) · 1871

Whistler exhibited this painting both as a “Harmony” and as a “Symphony” rather than as a Nocturne, but this view of Battersea at dawn shares the same features as many of the artist’s moonlit scenes of the Thames. Thinly painted, it conveys a sense of space and movement through the sweeping brushstrokes that move across the canvas from left to right. Whistler’s butterfly signature appears on a cartouche in the manner of Japanese printmakers.