Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket
1875 · Oil on panel · Detroit Institute of Arts
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This print

About this work
- Artist
- James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)
- Year
- 1875
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Original size
- 60.3 × 46.4 cm
- Collection
- Detroit Institute of Arts
- Movement
- Tonalism
Sparks from a firework drift down through the dark over Cremorne Gardens, a pleasure garden on the Thames at Chelsea, with faint figures and smoke below. When it was shown in 1877 the critic John Ruskin accused Whistler of 'flinging a pot of paint in the public's face'; Whistler sued for libel and won, but was awarded a single farthing in damages, and the costs bankrupted him. The painting is in the Detroit Institute of Arts.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A near-abstract night picture of black and gold sparks for a living room, study or bar in a black frame. It suits charcoal, navy or deep green walls and pairs with Ryder's moonlit pictures.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Tonalism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1875)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- dramatic, moody
- Rooms
- living room, study or library, dining room, dorm room, hallway or entryway
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.


































