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The Pool

Print
1859 (etched), 1871 (printed and published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

During his formative years in Paris in the 1850s, Whistler was influenced by the injunctions of the poet and theorist Charles Baudelaire that artists should take subjects from 'modern life' and seek a new beauty in the teeming cities. Whistler's first major suite of prints, his 'French Set' brought critical acclaim but disappointing sales. Seeking more generous patrons, he moved to London in 1859. Initially under the influence of his brother-in-law Francis Seymour Haden, a pioneer of the 'etching revival', he began a series of superbly observed and finely detailed views of the River Thames with its shipping, thriving wharves and picturesque characters.


Object details

Category
Object type
Titles
  • The Pool (generic title)
  • The Thames Set (series title)
  • A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and other subjects (series title)
Materials and techniques
Etching on paper
Brief description
Etching by James Whistler, 'The Pool' from the Thames Set. Etched 1859, published in 'Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames, and Other Subjects,' London, 1871.
Physical description
Etching by James Whistler, 'The Pool' from the Thames Set; etched 1859. Printed and issued in 1871 as one of the 'Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames, and Other Subjects,' by Ellis and Green, 32 King Street, Covent Garden, in editions of one hundred. Signed and dated by the artist in plate. River view: a group of barges moored together, with a man in a boat in the foreground facing the viewer. In the distance, dry docks and warehouses lining the river's edge receding into the far distance, a church spire at the extreme left.
Dimensions
  • Plate height: 13.9cm
  • Plate width: 21.4cm
  • Paper height: 16.5cm
  • Paper width: 24.2cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'Whistler. 1859.' (Signed and dated by the artist in plate bottom left.)
Object history
1871 edition. K.43, 4th state.
Subjects depicted
Places depicted
Summary
During his formative years in Paris in the 1850s, Whistler was influenced by the injunctions of the poet and theorist Charles Baudelaire that artists should take subjects from 'modern life' and seek a new beauty in the teeming cities. Whistler's first major suite of prints, his 'French Set' brought critical acclaim but disappointing sales. Seeking more generous patrons, he moved to London in 1859. Initially under the influence of his brother-in-law Francis Seymour Haden, a pioneer of the 'etching revival', he began a series of superbly observed and finely detailed views of the River Thames with its shipping, thriving wharves and picturesque characters.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Wedmore, Frederick. Whistler's Etchings, A Study and a Catalogue. London: Colnaghi & Co, 1899. No.41.
  • Kennedy, Edward G. The Etched Work of Whistler. San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1978. N.43, 3rd state.
Collection
Accession number
24767:7

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
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