Thames Warehouses

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Edition/State

  5, 2

• Label

  Echoing panoramic views of the Thames created two centuries earlier, Whistler chose a long, narrow format for one of his first two etchings of the river, still London’s main commercial thoroughfare. The familiar dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral hovers downriver in the far distance, blessing this bustling commercial scene crowded with vessels, serviced by dockworkers and bargemen, and overlooked by ramshackle warehouses advertising marine supplies.

  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 G46 state 3 of 5.

• Provenance

  To 1905

  Obach & Co., London, to 1905 [1]

  From 1905 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Obach & Co. in 1905 [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)

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

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Etchings and Lithographs (April 4, 1930 to January 20, 1944)

  Etchings and Dry Points 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

  Obach & Co. (1884-1911) (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

  1850s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Obach & Co.

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Boats and boating, Art, American Art, Store front, Rivers, Etching (printing process)

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Prints