The Fiddler

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V&A South Kensington
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C

Artist/Maker	Whistler (artist)
Place of origin	London (etched) London (printed and published)

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.

Object details

Category	Prints
Object type	Print
Titles	The Fiddler (generic title) Becquet (generic title) The Thames Set (series title) Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames, and Other Subjects (series title)
Materials and techniques	Etching on paper Paper Printing Ink Etching (Printing Process)
Brief description	Etching by James Whistler, 'Becquet' or 'The Fiddler' from the Thames Set. Etched ca. 1859, published in 'Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames, and Other Subjects,' London, 1871.
Physical description	Etching by James Whistler, ‘Becquet’ or ‘The Fiddler’ from the Thames Set. Etched ca. 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. Portrait of a musician, shown full-face, seated holding a cello between his legs.
Dimensions	Plate height: 27cm Plate width: 19.4cm Paper height: 25.7cm Paper width: 21.9cm
Style	Realist
Object history	1871 edition. W.48. K.52, 3rd state.
Subjects depicted	Musicians Cello Cellos Musical Instruments
Summary	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.
Associated objects	19787 19788 19789 19790 19791 19792 19793 19794 19801 24767 24767:1 24767:2 24767:3 24767:4 24767:5 24767:6 24767:7 24767:8 24767:9 24767:10 24767:11 24767:13 24767:14 24767:15 24767:16 CAI.137 CAI.138 CAI.139 CAI.140 CAI.141 CAI.142 CAI.143 CAI.144 CAI.145 CAI.146 CAI.147 CAI.148 CAI.149 CAI.150 CAI.151 CAI.152 CIRC.13-1912 CIRC.15-1912 CIRC.179-1965 E.796-1936 E.3041-1931
Bibliographic references	Wedmore, Frederick. Whistler's Etchings, A Study and a Catalogue. London: Colnaghi & Co, 1899. No.48. Kennedy, Edward G. The Etched Work of Whistler. San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1978. No.52, 3rd state.
Collection	Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number	24767:8

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Record created	June 30, 2009
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O636214/the-fiddler-print-whistler/

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