Wheelwright

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  Intaglio print of a wheelright's shop, with several figures working in a large space under large beams.

• Signatures

  Signature in pencil: the Butterfly, imp.

• Edition/State

  5th

• Label

  Etched shortly after Whistler’s return from Venice, Wheelwright likely depicts a workshop in London or elsewhere in the south of England. As the artist’s shop-front project gained steam, Wheelwright was included in A Set of Twenty-six Etchings, also known as the “Second Venice Set,” published in 1886. Over time, Whistler began to include forges, furnaces, and smiths in his works depicting locations in Italy, England, and France. These images allowed him to render dramatic lighting and complex, interrelated figural compositions.

  Whistler etchings are identified by "G" numbers as assigned in "James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonn&‌eacute;," by Margaret F. McDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock (University of Glasgow, 2012), http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk. This print is G240 state 7 of 9.

• Provenance

  To 1887

  M. Knoedler & Co., New York. [1]

  From 1887 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from M. Knoedler & Co., New York in 1887. [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer.

  [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Bill of Sale dated November 11, 1887 in the Charles Lang Freer Papers, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. At the time of this sale, M. Knoedler & Co. was located in New York City, later the gallery opened branches in London and Paris. See also Curatorial Remark 5 in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery of Art.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change (November 18, 2023 to May 4, 2024)

  Mr. Whistler's Galleries: Avant-garde in Victorian London, 1883 (November 20, 2003 to April 4, 2004)

• Previous custodian or owner

  M. Knoedler & Co. (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s, 1870s

• Name

  Knoedler, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art, Store front, Etching (printing process)

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Prints