Limehouse
Medium
lithograph in black on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 17.2 × 26.4 cm (6 3/4 × 10 3/8 in.) sheet: 19.2 × 28 cm (7 9/16 × 11 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.8662
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s *Limehouse* (1878) captures the gritty allure of London’s East End, a dockside neighborhood known for its multicultural vibrancy and industrial hum along the Thames. This lith in black on wove measures a modest 17.2 × 26.4 cm, inviting viewers into Whistler’s masterful world of subtle tones and atmospheric depth. As part of the National Gallery of Art’s Rosen Collection (Department CG-W), it exemplifies Whistler’s shift toward printmaking as a fine art, rivaling his famed oil paintings. Whistler, a pioneering figure in Aestheticism and Tonalism, revolutionized lithogr...
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...