Thames Warehouses

Maker(s)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903)
Historical period(s)
1859
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 7.6 x 20.3 cm (3 x 8 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1898.264
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Print
Type

Etching

Keywords
boat, city, etching, river, United States
Provenance

Seymour Haden (1818-1910), London [1]

To 1898
H. Wunderlich & Co., New York to 1898 [2]

From 1898 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from H. Wunderlich & Co., through Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938), in November 1898 [3]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

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

[2] See Voucher No. 20, November 1898, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[3] See note 2.

[4] 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.

Previous Owner(s)

H. Wunderlich & Co. (C.L. Freer source)
Seymour Haden 1818 - 1910
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

This is one of Whistler's first two etchings of the Thames, completed in early July 1859.

An etcher often decides to add or subtract lines from a plate after beginning to print from it. When this happens, each distinct version of the print is called a "state." Many of Whistler's prints exist in numerous states.

Whistler etchings are identified by "K" numbers as assigned in Edward Kennedy's catalogue, The Etched Work of Whistler, (New York: Grolier Club, 1910; and subsequent editions). This print is K38; second state of two.

Published References
  • Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, Joanna Meacock. James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonée., 2012. .
  • Howard Mansfield. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etchings and Dry-points of James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Chicago, 1909. .
  • Katharine Lochnan. The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler. Exh. cat. New Haven and London, 1984. .
  • Edward G. Kennedy. The Etched Work of Whistler: Illustrated by Reproductions in Collotype of the Different States of the Plates. 4 vols., New York, 1910. .
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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