"His Nocturne, black and gold, 'The Falling Rocket,' shows such wilful and headlong perversity that one is almost disposed to despair of an artist who, in a sane moment [sic], could send such a daub to any exhibition."—Telegraph.
"For Mr. Whistler's own sake, no less than for the protection of the purchaser, Sir Coutts Lindsay ought not to have admitted works into the gallery in which the ill-educated conceit of the artist so nearly approached the aspect of wilful imposture. I have seen, and heard, much of cockney impudence before now, but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face."
Professor John Ruskin,
July 2, 1877.
"The 'Nocturne in black and gold' is not a serious work to me."
Mr. Firth, R.A.—Evidence at Westminster,
Nov. 16, 1878.
"The 'Nocturne in black and gold,' I do not think a serious work of art."
The Art Critic of the "Times."
Evidence at Westminster, Nov. 16, 1878.
"The Nocturne in black and gold has not the merit of the other two pictures, and it would be impossible to call it a serious work of art. Mr. Whistler's picture is only one of the thousand failures to paint night. The picture is not worth two hundred guineas."
Evidence of Mr. Jones, R.A.
Westminster, Nov. 16, 1878.
11.—NOCTURNE—OPAL AND SILVER.