Why it matters
The first of Whistler's 52 nocturnes. He studied the night scene, turned his back on it and recited its arrangement from memory, then painted it the next morning if he could see the picture on the canvas.
Did you know?
- It was completed in 1871.
- Frederick Richards Leyland suggested the name 'nocturne'.
- It was conceived on the same evening as Variations in Violet and Green.
Based on the Wikipedia article Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Chelsea (CC BY-SA 4.0).
