Nocturne to Victoria
- Date
- 1938
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- Chicago, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- sight in frame: 35 × 29 1/2 in. (88.9 × 74.9 cm)
framed: 40 3/8 × 34 3/4 × 2 in. (102.6 × 88.3 × 5.1 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of the Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 356:1943
NOTES
Mists swirl around the turrets of an imaginary construction. Nocturne to Victoria demonstrates the freedom that Federal Art Project support gave artists to experiment with technique. Charles Davis layered paint with glazes of oil and varnish to give a craggy texture to the crumbling structure. In music and poetry, nocturnes are pensive compositions, evocative of the ending of one day and the transition to the next. The painting’s title invites viewers to consider the decay of the old world and the struggle to build a new one.
Provenance
- 1943
Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration, Chicago, IL
1943 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by the Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration [1]
Notes:
[1] In 1943, the Works Projects Administration was terminated, and works made under the project between 1935 and 1943 were distributed to public institutions throughout the United States. The Chicago branch of the WPA allocated a number of works to the Saint Louis Art Museum [receipt for allocation of works of art from the Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration, dated April 12, 1943, SLAM document files].
Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration, Chicago, IL
1943 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by the Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration [1]
Notes:
[1] In 1943, the Works Projects Administration was terminated, and works made under the project between 1935 and 1943 were distributed to public institutions throughout the United States. The Chicago branch of the WPA allocated a number of works to the Saint Louis Art Museum [receipt for allocation of works of art from the Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration, dated April 12, 1943, SLAM document files].
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.