The Broad Bridge

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Edition/State

  1, 1

• Label

  Unlike Whistler's early lithotints that were drawn directly on the printing stone, The Broad Bridge was based on a preliminary charcoal drawing. Whistler traced the drawing onto a stone, going over the resulting outline with a crayon and adding washes. He finished the design by scraping away some of the tone to lighten the sky beneath the left span. The resulting image is in reverse, but the view is towards central London, through the wooden piers of old Battersea Bridge, with the Chelsea clock-tower in the middle right.

  Whistler lithographs are identified by "C." numbers as described in The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998). This print is C11.

• Provenance

  To 1895

  Frederick Keppel and Co., London, England, and New York to 1895 [1]

  From 1895 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Frederick Keppel and Co. in 1895 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Lithographs, 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

  An American in London: Whistler and the Thames (May 3 to August 17, 2014)

  Whistler and the Thames (December 17, 2000 to June 17, 2001)

  Whistler & Japan (May 14, 1995 to January 1, 1996)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Drawings, Etchings, and Lithographs, 1959 (April 15, 1959 to November 2, 1959)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Prints, East Corridor (January 5, 1944 to January 8, 1947)

  Lithographs and Lithotints by Whistler (March 23, 1925 to March 24, 1930)

  Special Exhibition, Whistler Etchings and Lithographs (January 14, 1924 to February 18, 1924)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Frederick Keppel and Co. (1868-1940) (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)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1870s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Frederick Keppel and Co.

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Bridges, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art, Store front

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Prints