Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge

One of Whistler's most celebrated nocturnal compositions. The old wooden Battersea Bridge rises dramatically against a twilight sky scattered with golden fireworks. Whistler deliberately exaggerated the bridge's height, transforming it into an ethereal vertical element.

Exemplifies Whistler's Aestheticism — mood and tonal harmony over literal representation. Shows the influence of Japanese woodblock prints in its flattened perspective.

Famous for the 1878 Ruskin libel trial. Whistler won but received only a farthing in damages. First major acquisition of the National Art Collections Fund in 1905, now at Tate Britain.