ticketsMember | Make a donation

The Kitchen

[1858] republished 1885
Not on view
This image of a rustic kitchen in Lutzelbourg, a town in Alsace, belongs to a group of etchings known as the "French Set." They were Whistler’s first published prints, issued in Paris in 1858 by Auguste Delâtre and formally titled "Douze eaux-fortes d’après nature" (Twelve Etchings from Nature). The twenty-one-year-old artist had moved to Paris from Washington, D.C., three years earlier. Encouraged by his British brother-in-law the amateur etcher Seymour Hayden, Whistler traveled through northeastern France and the Rhineland, sketching and etching several plates in situ. He completed the plate for this print after returning to Paris. The strong contrasts of light and shade demonstrate an appreciation for Dutch models and anticipate Whistler’s mature etchings. This state of the etching was republished by the Fine Art Society in 1885

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Kitchen
  • Series/Portfolio: French Set ("Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" 1858)
  • Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
  • Publisher: The Fine Art Society, London
  • Date: [1858] republished 1885
  • Medium: Etching, printed in black ink on fine ivory laid paper; third state of three (Glasgow)
  • Dimensions: Plate: 8 15/16 × 6 3/16 in. (22.7 × 15.7 cm)
    Sheet: 9 x 6 1/4 in. (22.9 x 15.9 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.3.20
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
The artist's butterfly in an enlarged version with a forked tail
James McNeill Whistler
19th century
Study, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithograph with scraping, on a prepared half-tint ground; only state (Chicago); printed in brown ink on grayish wove paper
Study
James McNeill Whistler
1879
Reading, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithograph with scraping; printed in black ink on grayish chine mounted on ivory wove paper; fourth state of four (Chicago)
Reading
James McNeill Whistler
1879
Windsor (Memorial), James McNeill Whistler American, Drypoint; third state of four (Glasgow); printed in dark brown ink on ivory laid paper
Windsor (Memorial)
James McNeill Whistler
1887
Early Morning, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithotint with scraping, on a prepared half-tint ground, printed in black ink on cream wove paper; third state of four (Chicago)
Early Morning
James McNeill Whistler
1878

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.