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The image shows an aerial view of a sandy terrain with a horizon line separating the sky from a strip of water where there is a dark shape resembling a ship. The brushstrokes are soft, creating a blurred effect. The color palette is mainly sandy beiges and taupes with darker spots indicating people and structures dispersed across the area. Human figures are mostly silhouettes. In the distance, there is a suggestion of a building and clusters of people. The tones of the building blend with the surroundings, directing focus towards the distant clusters of activity.
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The image shows an aerial view of a sandy terrain with a horizon line separating the sky from a strip of water where there is a dark shape resembling a ship. The brushstrokes are soft, creating a blurred effect. The color palette is mainly sandy beiges and taupes with darker spots indicating people and structures dispersed across the area. Human figures are mostly silhouettes. In the distance, there is a suggestion of a building and clusters of people. The tones of the building blend with the surroundings, directing focus towards the distant clusters of activity.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

Beach Scene

James McNeill Whistler

Date
probably 1885
Medium
watercolor and traces of gouache on off-white paper mounted on paperboard
Dimensions
sheet: 12.6 × 21.2 cm (4 15/16 × 8 3/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
1991.7.3
Credit line
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Time span
1876 to 1900
Department
CG-W
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • American
  • topographical
  • landscape
  • Coast
  • Realist
Provenance

Miss Rosalind Birnie Philip; (P & D Colnaghi and Co., Ltd., London); Mrs. Frances L. Evans, Oxfordshire; (sale, Christie's, London, 19 May 1972, no. 37). Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon; gift 1991 to NGA.

Inscription

lower right in watercolor: Whistler signature; upper left verso in graphite: (N 20) y / A11723; center verso in graphite: N20 y; lower left verso in graphite: No. 29 [crossed out]

NGA object ID 72048. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.