James McNeill Whistler

Green and Gold: A Shop in Calais

Date September 1896
Materials Oil on wood
Dimensions 24.5 cm x 13.0 cm
Marks Signed with a butterfly at the upper left (on the window)
Further information GLAHA 46345.
Andrew McLaren Young, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1980 (474, plate 345).

Note At first this painting appears to be empty and lacking in interest. There are no people to enliven the scene. However, like so many of Whistler’s other works, this painting is about surface patterning. Look how he reduces the shop front to a series of different sized squares and rectangles. He also balances delicate shades of colour to create a sense of harmony. Subject matter was less important to Whistler than beauty, and in this way he was an important influence on twentieth century abstract art, which was subjectless and which relied on colour and shape to give meaning.
This picture was painted in Calais, France. The weather was cold and wet and Whistler felt miserable, particularly as he was still mourning the death of his wife Beatrix from cancer in May of this year. Despite this he decided to stay on and finish this picture of a small shop.

Related works Whistler to Rosalind Birnie Philip, [19 September 1896], GUL Whistler MS. P315 [GUW #04675].