Wendy Baron considers that the night landscapes from 1896-98 form a distinct self-contained group which 'may have been a deliberate challenge to Whistler's nocturnes. Instead of treating his subjects impressionistically and romantically, as did Whistler, Sickert carried through his night pieces in an absolutely deadpan and prosaic manner. The darkness, instead of enveloping and blurring the individual forms, reduces each object to a clearly defined silhouette. The lighting effects, instead of being haphazard and muted, are concentrated with geometrical severity and throw separate shapes, the wall of a building here, a pavement there - into sharp relief. Sickert's nocturnes are almost crudely dramatic where Whistler's were poetically romantic. Nevertheless, the masterly reduction and simplification of the tonal values and the complete understanding of their mutual relationships make Sickert's vivid and curious images of the urban night scenes just as satisfying and, in a sense, more realistic than Whistler's'.
(W. Baron, loc. cit.).