Hurlingham
Medium
Etching and drypoint with foul biting in black ink on off-white laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 13.7 × 20.2 cm (5 7/16 × 8 in.); Sheet: 21.5 × 29.7 cm (8 1/2 × 11 3/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
50959
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s *Hurlingham* (1879) invites visitors into the refined world of late 19th-century London through the intimate scale of printmaking. This etching and drypoint captures a serene riverside scene, likely evoking the elegant Hurlingham Club grounds along the Thames, a hub for polo and high society. Whistler, the American-born artist famed for his Aestheticism and subtle tonal harmonies—think his misty *Nocturnes*—excelled in prints, blending Realism with impressionistic atmosphere during a pivotal career phase after his high-profile clash with critic John Ruskin. The work’s...
About the Artist
James McNeill Whistler · 1834–1903
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was an American-born painter and printmaker who became a leading figure in the Aesthetic Movement and pioneer of Tonalism and Japonisme. He revolutionized art by championing "art for art's sake" and treating paintings as visual equivalents of musical compositions, titling works as "arrangements," "harmonies," and "nocturnes" to emphasize formal qualities o...