Nocturne: Palaces

James McNeill Whistler · 1879–80

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Palette

Taupe
39% of the image
Gold & ochre · text contrast 4.9:1

Sand
18% of the image
Gold & ochre · text contrast 8.6:1

Fawn
18% of the image
Gold & ochre · text contrast 6.3:1

Sepia
13% of the image
Brown · text contrast 7.1:1

Linen
10% of the image
White & cream · text contrast 14.3:1

Putty
2% of the image
Gold & ochre · text contrast 10.4:1

Colours measured by this site from the museum image (k-means in CIELAB). Names are the nearest in our own list and describe how the colour looks, not the pigment. Text on each chip uses whichever of black or white contrasts more (WCAG ratio shown). How

Details

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London
Date: 1879–80
Type: Print
Medium: Etching and drypoint; printed in dark brown ink on drum mounted medium weight ivory laid paper.
Size: Sheet: 11 1/2 × 7 13/16 in. (29.2 × 19.8 cm) Plate: 11 1/2 × 7 13/16 in. (29.2 × 19.8 cm)
Period: 19th century
Themes: Night and moonlight
Main colour: Gold & ochre · lightness 58, colourfulness 20

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Harold K. Hochschild, 1940. Museum record. Public domain: the museum's isPublicDomain field read true when we last checked (2026-10-25); image released under CC0. Licence rules