Billingsgate

1859

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The image shows an etching of a riverside scene with a wooden barge in the foreground and sailboats docked in the background. People are gathered on the barge, and the riverbank is filled with buildings and crowds of people. The fine lines in the etching depict texture and movement in the water and sails. The color palette is sepia and black, creating a timeless quality. In the distance, arches of a bridge are visible.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and drypoint in black on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (Bequest of Margaret Coughlan)

  • Dimensions

    plate: 15.08 × 22.54 cm (5 15/16 × 8 7/8 in.)
    sheet: 19.84 × 28.1 cm (7 13/16 × 11 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.3254

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    MacDonald 2012, no. 51, state ix/ix

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Margaret Coughlan, Washington, DC; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2004; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Bibliography

1910

  • Kennedy, Edward G. The Etched Work of Whistler. New York: Grolier Club, 1910, no. 47.

2012

  • MacDonald, Margaret, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock. James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, A Catalogue Raisonné. Scotland: University of Glasgow, 2012, no. 51, ix/ix. http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk

Inscriptions

lower center in plate: Whistler. 1859.; lower center edge in graphite by unknown hand: 6 1/2 + 9 3/8 - 14 + 18; lower right corner in graphite by unknown hand: B437; lower center verso in graphite by unknown hand: 409

Wikidata ID

Q77010113

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