The Thames in Ice

The Thames in Ice, painted in 1860 by the American artist James McNeill Whistler, shows a winter view of the Thames in London, its surface frozen after a bitter cold spell had trapped the ships. Whistler had come back to London from Paris only the year before. He worked from a balcony of an inn at Rotherhithe and finished the canvas in about three days. He judged the subject unsuitable as a follow-up to his earlier success, At the Piano, for the Royal Academy show of 1861, and turned to other projects that were never submitted. He sold the painting for ten pounds, a considerable sum so early in his career. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, held at the National Gallery, and later sent to the Paris Salon of 1867. It now belongs to the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it is seen as an early example of his interest in river scenes.

Painter

James McNeill Whistler

Date

1860

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

75 × 55 cm

Museum

Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Genre

marine art

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