Nocturne: Blue and Gold—Southampton Water

This is an oil painting on canvas, a little wider than a large window pane, about 77 centimeters across. It shows an inlet of water near Southampton, on the English Channel, as night comes on. Almost everything is dark and soft, in muted blues and golden tones. You will not find sharp outlines or busy detail. Large ships sit on the water as shadowy shapes, and the whole scene feels quiet and still. Stand back a little and let your eyes adjust, as they would at the end of a real evening by the water.

Look first for the large shipping vessels. They are not drawn clearly. They appear as ghostly shapes, dark masses that seem to be dissolving into the twilight. Then search for the few points of brightness. Some are faint reflections of lights, lying on the surface of the water. The other is the moon, which appears as a broken, fragmented orb rather than a clean round disc. Notice how little light there is, and how much more you notice it because everything around it is so dark.

James McNeill Whistler, an American artist working in London, painted this in 1872. It belongs to his Nocturnes series, begun in the early 1870s. A nocturne is a piece of night music, and Whistler chose the word to link painting with music. His earlier marine paintings showed their subjects more plainly. Here the scene is hidden by the approaching night. The setting mainly serves as a vehicle for his interest in the harmonies of muted color amid darkness, much as a composer might shape a quiet melody.

This painting was a radical step toward abstraction, which means a picture less concerned with showing things exactly and more with color and mood. It reflects Whistler's creed of art for art's sake: the idea that a painting does not need a story or lesson, and can be valued for its beauty alone. The place matters less than the feeling of evening stillness and the relationship of colors. Before you move on, look once more at the broken moon and its reflections, and see how little it takes to suggest a whole night.