Art Collage JANG: Interesting Art Stories: 56. Nocturne in Black and Gold–The Falling Rocket, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, ACJ Art Academy

How are you?

Currently, I am introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the title “Interesting Art Stories”.

The 56th story is “Nocturne in Black and Gold–The Falling Rocket” by James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

Self-portrait, James Abbott McNeill Whistler
(c.1872)

“Nocturne in Black and Gold–The Falling Rocket” is a 1875 painting by James Abbott McNeill Whistler held in the Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Detroit Institute of Arts

This painting is one of the examples of the “Art for art's sake” movement, a concept formulated by Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier and Charles Baudelaire.

Théophile Gautier

Charles Baudelaire

First exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in London in 1877, it is one of two works (the other is "Nocturne in Black and Gold–The Firewheel") inspired by London's celebrated pleasure resort, Cremorne Gardens.

Entrance of the Grosvenor Gallery

Nocturne in Black and Gold–The Firewheel, James Abbott
McNeill Whistler (1875)

The Dancing Platform at Cremorne Gardens, Phoebus Levin
(1864)

One of Whistler's many works from his series of Nocturnes, it is the last of the London Nocturnes and is widely regarded as the culmination of Whistler's middle period. In this painting, Whistler depicted a fireworks in the foggy night sky in the industrial city park. It is also famous for the painting that sparked the lawsuit between Whistler and the art critic John Ruskin.

John Ruskin

This painting basically consists of a gloomy tone, with three main colors such as blue, green and yellow. The soaring smoke gives the viewer a clear distinction between the water and the sky, and the figures watching the fireworks are almost transparent and their shapes are plain and simple.

John Ruskin, a major art critic of the Victorian era, denounced the painting as "a painting flinging a pot of paint in the public's face" in the Fors Clavigera, the name given by John Ruskin to a series of letters addressed to British workmen during the 1870s. Ruskin's harsh criticism of the painting caused an uproar among owners of other Whistler works.

Fors Clavigera, John Ruskin

As the perception that it would be shameful to own Whistler's work rapidly spread, Whistler, whose self-esteem was hurt and who suffered more financial difficulties, sued Ruskin for defamation.

In the trial between Ruskin and Whistler on November 25 and 26, 1878, Whistler won, but only got a farthing (a quarter of a penny at the time) and eventually declared bankruptcy because he could not afford all the court costs.

One farthing

Whistler even included a transcript of the case in his 1890 book, “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies.”

The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. James
McNeill Whistler (1890)

When Ruskin criticized the painting, he was not aware of the efforts for the painting and the theory of Whistler. However, it has been suggested that Ruskin suffered from CADASIL syndrome and the visual disturbances caused by this disease was a factor that irritated him at this painting, behind Ruskin's criticism of the painting.