Whitehall Court, by Joseph Pennell (1857-1926)

Whitehall Court — with the Lights of Charing Cross Bridge

Joseph Pennell (1857-1926)

1903

Library of Congress image, repro. no. LC-DIG-ppmsca-38042 (digital file from original print)

Seen here across the river at night, Whitehall Court is adjacent to the National Liberal Club on the Thames Embankment. [Commentary continues below.]

Image acquisition, caption and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee, with material on Sir Edward Walter Hamilton contributed by Joe Pilling.

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Interestingly, Pennell's wife Elizabeth Robins Pennell, an art critic of sensibility and distinction in her own right, had seen the potential of this scene some years previously, when writing to defend "the London Impressionists' choice of subjects" (i.e., urban art, see Jones 69) in 1892:

But the man who can walk with indifference over the footway of Charing Cross bridge, and in the evening look into the great yawning cavern of the station with its glittering lights, who is not compelled to stop and lean over the rail of the bridge and study the mystery of the river at night and the glory of Wren's city by day, who cannot admire the Waterloo-bridge and the impressiveness of Somerset House, who has never [been?] haunted by the sombre mass of Whitehall Court towering above the long ... low line of the bridge, broken by the smoke from a penny steamer; the man who cannot see a picture every day and every hour in every part of London cannot really understand anything at all that is in the National Gallery. And this being the case should not talk about art. [qtd. in Jones 70]

Interestingly too, The Pennells' good friend Whistler spent some time with publisher William Heinemann in his flat at 4, Whitehall Court (see Sunderland 296).

It was in another flat here, about two years before this etching, that top civil servant Sir Edward (Eddy) Hamilton had entertained Edward VII and several other guests, including the King's mistress Mrs Keppel, until 1.30 one morning. Whitehall Court must have quite a few stories to tell.

Related Material

Joe Pilling's review of The Diary of Sir Edward Walter Hamilton 1885-1906

Bibliography

Jones, Kimberley Morse. Elizabeth Robins Pennell: Pioneer of Modern Art Criticism. Farnham, Surrey and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2015.

"Joseph Pennell. 1857-1926." Allinson Art Gallery. Web. 15 November 2015.

Sutherland, David E. Whistler: A Life for Art's Sake. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2014.

Created 15 November 2015