James McNeill Whistler Nocturne: Blue and Gold—Southampton Water, 1872
Grey and Silver: Old Battersea Reach
James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)
- Date
- 1863
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 20 × 27 in (50.8 × 68.6 cm)
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, accession 1922.449. See the museum’s record
- Credit
- Gift of Honoré and Potter Palmer
Public domain image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago (CC0).
Palette
- #BBB9A7, 30 % of the picture, closest to Sage Green walls
- #8B8774, 26 % of the picture, closest to Taupe walls
- #9F9B88, 18 % of the picture, closest to Taupe walls
- #6F6551, 15 % of the picture, closest to Olive walls
- #574836, 12 % of the picture, closest to Chocolate walls
Closest wall colors:
Fits these rooms
Hang it
Pick the furniture and a print size to see it to scale on your wall.
- 36 × 48 in, filling the paper (trims 1.2 % of the picture)
- Center
- 61¼ in (156 cm) from the floor
- Above the sofa
- 8 in (20 cm) from the sofa to the frame
- Ideal width
- 56 to 63 in over an 84 in sofa
- Why this height
- Centered at eye level, this frame would not sit 6 to 10 in above the sofa, so the 8 in gap sets the height.
Try it on your wall color
Default greige
Print it
Standard paper sizes that keep this painting’s proportions, the frames that fit them, and how sharp each one prints.
| Paper | Filling the paper | Printed whole | Frame | Frame with a 2 in mat | Frame with a 3 in mat | Sharpness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 × 7 in | trims 3.6 % | 5 × 6¾ in | 5 × 7 in ready-made | 9 × 11 in custom | 11 × 13 in custom | 285 dpi, crisp from a step back |
| 11 × 14 in | trims 5.7 % | 10½ × 14 in | 11 × 14 in ready-made | 15 × 18 in custom | 17 × 20 in custom | 133 dpi, soft up close |
| 12 × 16 in | trims 1.2 % | 12 × 16 in | 12 × 16 in ready-made | 16 × 20 in ready-made | 18 × 22 in custom | 122 dpi, soft up close |
| 18 × 24 in | trims 1.2 % | 17¾ × 24 in | 18 × 24 in ready-made | 22 × 28 in ready-made | 24 × 30 in ready-made | 81 dpi, soft up close |
| 30 × 40 in | trims 1.2 % | 29½ × 40 in | 30 × 40 in ready-made | 34 × 44 in custom | 36 × 46 in custom | 48 dpi, soft up close |
| 36 × 48 in | trims 1.2 % | 35½ × 48 in | 36 × 48 in ready-made | 40 × 52 in custom | 42 × 54 in custom | 40 dpi, soft up close |
Sharpness is worked out from the largest file the museum offers. Above 300 dpi a print holds up at arm’s length; 150 dpi is plenty for a picture seen from across a sofa.
Download
Free for any use, including commercial: this image is public domain (CC0).
- Thumbnail (WebP) 560 × 410 px from Room Paintings
- Web image 843 × 617 px from Art Institute of Chicago
- Print file 2,000 × 1,464 px from Art Institute of Chicago
- The museum’s record of this painting Art Institute of Chicago
Public domain image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago (CC0). You may print, share, change and sell it without asking. Read what that means on our image license page, and how to get a good result in how to print a public-domain painting.
More like this
By James McNeill Whistler, or in the same style or subject.
All works by James McNeill Whistler 
James McNeill Whistler The Yellow Room, ca. 1883–84
James McNeill Whistler Arrangement in Flesh Color and Brown: Portrait of Arthur Jerome Eddy, 1894
James McNeill Whistler Portrait of Dr. William McNeill Whistler, 1871–73
Gustave Caillebotte Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877
Georges Seurat A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884, 1884–86, border added 1888–89
George Inness The Home of the Heron, 1893
James McNeill Whistler Study for "Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle", 1872–73