Two Doorways

1880

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The image depicts a narrow canal lined with buildings. The artist uses detailed etching techniques to create texture and depth. The scene is rendered in sepia tones, giving it a vintage quality. The composition includes an archway with a figure, gondolas in the canal, and densely packed buildings in the background.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and drypoint in brownish-black ink on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8526

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    MacDonald 2012, no. 193, state xiii/xiii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Fine Art Society, London; sold to H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1892, (stock no. a21615); sold to unidentified collector, 1893. Probably in the 1930s at Kennedy & Co., New York (stock no. a67928). Lessing Julius Rosenwald [1891-1971], Philadelphia, (Lugt 1760b); gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • Etchings, Lithographs, Original Drawings, and Autograph Letters by James A. McNeill Whistler, The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1931.

2003

  • "Whistler and His Circle in Venice", The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; The Grolier Club, New York, 2003, no. 42.

2012

  • "Peintre-graveur: Adventures in Graphic Arts in the 19th Century", Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo, Japan, 2012.

Bibliography

1910

  • Kennedy, Edward G. The Etched Work of Whistler. New York: Grolier Club, 1910, no. 193, vi/vi.

2012

  • MacDonald, Margaret F., Grischka Petri, Joanna Meacock.James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné. University of Glasgow on-line website at http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk. University of Glasgow, 2012: no. 193, state xiii/xiii.

Inscriptions

on plate: (butterfly); lower right on the verso: (butterfly); tab: butterfly of ca 1886; by later hands: lower left on verso: a 21615 (crossed out); a 67928

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q65021943

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