Westminster Bridge
Print
1859 (etched), 1871 (printed and published)
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 |
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| Materials and techniques | Etching on paper |
| Brief description | Etching by James Whistler, 'Westminster Bridge', 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, ‘Westminster Bridge’, 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. View of the Thames. In the left foreground, two horses wading in the river, with boats beyond. In the middle distance, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge in silhouette. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'Whistler 1859' (Signed and dated by the artist in plate bottom left.) |
| Object history | w.36. K.39, 2nd state. 1871 edition. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Place 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 |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 24767:4 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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