The Unsafe Tenement

1858

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The image features a view looking slightly upward at an old, rustic building. The focus is on the structure itself, displaying detailed textures created through etching. The building is depicted with intricate lines, conveying the appearance of weathered wood and aged masonry. Near an entrance, a figure is seen standing in a shadowed area, adding depth and scale to the scene. The color palette is monochromatic, using shades of black, grey, and off-white to evoke antiquity and somberness. The background is obscured, highlighting the building within the frame.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching in black on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (Bequest of Julius Garfinckel)

  • Dimensions

    plate: 15.72 × 22.7 cm (6 3/16 × 8 15/16 in.)
    sheet: 20.32 × 28.1 cm (8 × 11 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.429

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    MacDonald 2012, no. 18, state iv/iv

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Keppel & Co., New York); Julius Garfinckel, Washington, DC; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1938; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1952

  • Whistler, Hunter Gallery of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1952

1982

  • Whistler’s World: The Master’s Etchings, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1982, no. 4

1990

  • Haden, Whistler, Pennell: Three Master Printmakers in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1990, no. 7, repro

Bibliography

1910

  • Kennedy, Edward G. The Etched Work of Whistler. New York: Grolier Club, 1910, no. 17.

2012

  • MacDonald, Margaret, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock. James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, A Catalogue Raisonné. Scotland: University of Glasgow, 2012, no. 18, iv/iv. http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk

Inscriptions

lower right in plate: Whistler; lower right edge in graphite by unknown hand: 8621; lower left verso in graphite by unknown hand: a90316; lower right verso in graphite by unknown hand: EW.

Wikidata ID

Q77008709

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