WHISTLER'S "BATTERSEA BRIDGE " : A NATIONAL OPPORTUNITY,
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."( SIR,—Some of the readers of the Spectator may be interested to know that there is now an opportunity of securing for the National Gallery a fine nocturne by Whistler. The Executive Committee of the National Art-Collections Fund has entered into negotiations with the owner of the " Battersea Bridge," who has offered to sell the picture for £2,000 if the destination of the work is to be a national collection. The offer is a generous one, for the present owner of the nocturne has already been offered a larger sum for it from America. This offer closes at the end of July, and at present, though most of the purchase-money has been promised, a certain amount still needs to be raised. No work of this class, in which Whistler was pre-eminent, belongs to a public collection, and no work of the artist is to be found in a public gallery in London. It would be a great pity if this opportunity wero allowed to pass for obtaining so fine a work as the one in question. Subscriptions will be received by the hon. secre- taries of the National Art-Collections Fund, 47 Victoria
Street, Westminster.—I am, Sir, &c., H. S.
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