The Fiddler; Becquet; The Thames Set; Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames, and Other Subjects
- Object:
Print
- Place of origin:
London, England (etched)
- Date:
1871 (printed and published)
ca. 1859 (etched) - Artist/Maker:
Whistler, born 1834 - died 1903 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Etching on paper
- Museum number:
24767:8
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case MB2F, shelf SH93, box EE1B
Following the months spent in Wapping at work on his Thames Set etchings, Whistler returned to Paris for a few months towards the end of 1859. There he experimented with and quickly mastered the exacting technique of drypoint. This method of drawing on an unprepared etching plate with a sharp tool allows the artist to create delicate and spontaneous marks which print with a richness unobtainable by conventional etching. Influenced by the portraits of Van Dyck and Rembrandt, Whistler created a group of prints of Bohemian friends such as the flamboyant cellist, Becquet.
