Cremorne Gardens, No. 2
ca. 1870–80
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
27 x 53 1/8 in. (68.6 x 134.9 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1912
Accession Number
12.32
Tags
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s “Cremorne Gardens, No. 2 offers a tranquil glimpse into London’s vibrant leisure. Painted circa 187–1880, elongated oil on canvas depicts strolling through the famous Cremorne pleasure gardens, where men and women mingled amid landscaped grounds along the Thames. As an American artist working primarily in Britain, Whistler drew on these public spaces to explore modern urban life rather than grand historical subjects. Whistler favored tonal harmony and subtle color over precise detail, creating atmospheric effects that evoke the fading light of evening. The horizontal ...
About the Artist
James McNeill Whistler · 1834–1903
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was an American-born painter and printmaker who became a leading figure in the Aesthetic Movement and pioneer of Tonalism and Japonisme. He revolutionized art by championing "art for art's sake" and treating paintings as visual equivalents of musical compositions, titling works as "arrangements," "harmonies," and "nocturnes" to emphasize formal qualities o...