James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Penny Passengers, Limehouse

1860

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Grand-mere (effet de lumiere), etching and drypoint, 1889, signed in pencil lower right, titled lower left, inscribed “No 3 – ...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Resurrection (aka Flying Figures; Border of the Lake), drypoint and aquatint on zinc, 1916, signed with the estate stamp lower right. Reference: Price 2...

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), A Street in Ventnor, Isle of Wight, etching, soft ground etching, drypoint, 1912, signed in pencil on the tab and inscribed...

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Bridge, Santa Marta, 1879-80, etching with drypoint, printed in sepia on fine laid paper. Signed with the butterfly and inscribed imp on the tab (also with an exceedingly light butterfly lower right in the plate). Kennedy 204, probably eighth (final) state; Glasgow 201, probably state 9 (of 9) (cf. Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011), Lochnan 199. Trimmed to the platemark by the artist, h: 11.8 x w: 7.9 in / h: 30 x w: 20.1 cm. A fine impression, printed with subtle tone. The bridge theme occurs repeatedly in Whistler’s vistas. It is also the main focus of more than one of the Venetian prints. While some bridges are seen from below, from where one would see it if approaching in a gondola (for example Ponte del Piovan, Kennedy 209), The Bridge depicts the scene from a high perspective, opening up the view into the far distance. The small boat approaching the arch in the foreground is again, as in the earlier Thames prints, a stock motif that is probably ultimately derived from the Japanese woodcuts of Hokusai and Hiroshige. The bridge here is the Ponte de le Terese over the Rio de l’Arzere in the Santa Marta quarter. The early biography of Whistler by Elizabeth and Joseph Pennell is essential for its “immense quantity of information” but also notorious for “the inherent hyperbole and misinformation” (Eric Denker, Annotated Bibliography, in Fine, p. 184). Still, it is worth quoting from the Pennels’ appraisal of The Bridge: “Simplicity of expression has never been carried further. Probably the finest plate, in its simplicity and directness, is The Bridge. Whistler now obtained the quality of richness by suggesting detail, and also by printing. In The Traghetto...

Etching printed in brownish black on light tan Chine collé, 1861. Image measures 6 x 5 inches, displayed in a 15.5 x 12.5 inch frame. Etched signature and date lower left. A very goo...

J. Becquet, Sculptor Etching & drypoint, 1859 Unsigned as issued From: The Thames Set Printed on this Japanese tissue Rich impression Condition: Excellent Plate/Image size: 9 7/8 x 7...

A superb, richly-inked impression of this etching and drypoint, printed in dark brownish black on antique cream laid paper. Second state (of 3). Edition of approximately 30. Signed w...

A brilliant, richly-inked impression of this etching and drypoint printed in dark brownish black on antique cream laid paper with very strong contrasts....