Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge

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Nocturne: Blue and Gold —
Old Battersea Bridge
James McNeill Whistler, c. 18721875
Oil on canvas
68.3 × 51.2 cm, 26 7/8 × 20 1/8 in
Tate Britain, London

Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge is a painting by the American-born British artist James McNeill Whistler, now held in the collections of Tate Britain. It was painted around 1872–5.

This painting is of the old wooden Battersea Bridge across the River Thames before it was replaced by the modern bridge. Chelsea Old Church to the left (on the north bank of the river) and the then recently built Albert Bridge to the right, with fireworks above, can be seen in the distance. The picture is an evening view and is full of atmospheric effect. The bridge is painted taller that it actually was for added effect. Hokusai, a favorite artist of Whistler's from Japan, produced a similar picture of a tall wooden bridge with fireworks.

The painting was presented to the Tate Gallery by the National Art Collections Fund in 1905.

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