Street at Saverne

1858
Not on view
After visiting the Alsatian town of Saverne in the summer of 1858, Whistler produced his first etched Nocturne. Sharp recession heightens the irregular forms of old buildings, with a gas lantern hanging at right casting deep shadows. The choice of blue paper and "artistic" inking, carried out by the leading Parisian printer Auguste Delâtre, enhance the effect. Whistler included this work in his first published set, Douze eaux-fortes d’après nature (Twelve Etchings from Nature), which he always referred to as the "French Set."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Street at Saverne
  • Series/Portfolio: French Set ("Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" 1858)
  • Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
  • Date: 1858
  • Medium: Etching and open bite or sandpaper ground, printed in black ink on blue chine on off-white wove paper (chine collé); third state of four (Glasgow)
  • Dimensions: Plate: 8 3/16 × 6 1/4 in. (20.8 × 15.9 cm)
    Sheet: 17 1/16 × 11 15/16 in. (43.3 × 30.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.3.12
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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