Petite Rue au Beurre, Brussels

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  During a visit to Brussels in September 1887, Whistler sought out appealing subjects in the working-class quarters of Les Marolles, a historic district dating back to the Middle Ages. The shops Whistler etched on Little Butter Street are built against the south walls of the church of St. Nicholas. By cropping out the church, which towers above the buildings in the scene, Whistler aligned this rare image, one of only three recorded, with other close-up shop fronts he encountered in Britain, France, and elsewhere.

  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 G341 state 1 of 1.

• Provenance

  To 1888

  H. Wunderlich & Co., New York to 1888 [1]

  From 1888 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from H. Wunderlich & Co. in 1888 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Etchings, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  H. Wunderlich & Co. (1874-1912) (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

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, H. Wunderlich & Co.

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Architecture, American Art, Store front, Cities and towns, Etching (printing process)

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Prints