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James Abbott McNeill WhistlerThe Traghetto1879-80
1879-80
$23,000
£17,661.79
€20,260.85
CA$32,317.70
A$36,193.78
CHF 18,885.32
MX$442,091.50
NOK 240,276.26
SEK 226,489.17
DKK 151,204.27
About the Item
James Whistler (1834-1903), The Traghetto, etching and drypoint, 1879-80, signed with the butterfly on the tab and inscribed “imp”. Reference: Kennedy 191, fourth state (of 6), Glasgow (MacDonald et al) 223, 7th state (of 9), before the eyes are added to the child at the left, and without the carafe on the table. From the First Venice Set. In very good condition (a paper reinforcement verso just left of tab), trimmed by the artist to the platemark except for the signature tab. 9 1/2 x 11 7/8 inches.
A fine impression, printed on laid paper, with subtle plate tone. With Whistler’s three tiny circles in pencil verso, indicating that in his view this is a particularly fine impression (of course Whistler’s perspective is always colored by his marketing acumen as well as aesthetic sense).
Whistler changed this print numerous times as he progressed through many states; after the first composition he virtually re-etched the plate; at times he had a carafe on the table, then burnished it out, then added it back (here it’s out). In the state after this he added eyes to the child being held, at the lower left, and added the carafe to the table in drypoint. In this impression the areas of the archway are dark and rich, and the people in the distance can be seen clearly.
- Creator:James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903, American)
- Creation Year:1879-80
- Dimensions:Height: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Width: 11.88 in (30.18 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU51531464963
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American artist active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. Whistler was born on July 11, 1834, in Lowell. During his formative years in Paris in the 1850s, Whistler was influenced by the injunctions of the poet and theorist Charles Baudelaire that artists should take subjects from modern life and seek a new beauty in the teeming cities. Whistler's first major suite of prints, his French Set brought critical acclaim but disappointing sales. Seeking more generous patrons, he moved to London in 1859. Initially, under the influence of his brother-in-law Francis Seymour Haden, a pioneer of the etching revival, he began a series of superbly observed and finely detailed views of the River Thames with its shipping, thriving wharves and picturesque characters. In his Thames Set etchings, Whistler often introduced the figures of workmen, boatmen or loungers in the foregrounds. Whistler died on July 17, 1903, in London.
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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.
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