Coast Scene, Bathers

1884–85

James McNeill Whistler dedicated much of his artistic practice to capturing the mood and color harmonies of marine scenes. In this intimately scaled seascape, he employed the sparest of compositional elements to evoke a coastal atmosphere. Broad horizontal bands of blues and gray suggest sky, ocean, and sand, with dabs of thin pigment giving economical yet expressive form to around a dozen figures on the windswept beach.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)

Date

1884–85

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

13.3 × 21.9 cm (5 1/4 × 8 5/8 in.)

Origin

United States

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Walter S. Brewster Collection