Old Battersea Bridge
Medium
Etching and drypoint, with foul biting, in brown on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 20.2 × 29.3 cm (8 × 11 9/16 in.); Sheet: 20.6 × 29.3 cm (8 1/8 × 11 9/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
109217
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The conceit of architectural elements placed in the middle ground beyond an expanse of water is one that recurs in Whistler’s printed and painted works, including Black Lion Wharf and later subject like his Venice Nocturnes. For this scene, which depicts the timber bridge crossing the Thames and spanning the neighborhoods of Chelsea and Battersea, the artist left a significant amount of surface area unprinted. The selective wiping of the plate, not printed lines, conveys the color and quality of...
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...