The Two Doorways
1879/80
Medium
Etching and drypoint with foul biting in dark brown ink on off-white laid paper
Dimensions
Image, trimmed within platemark: 20.2 × 29.4 cm (8 × 11 5/8 in.); Sheet: 20.6 × 29.4 cm (8 1/8 × 11 5/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
29485
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s *The Two Doorways*1879/80) captures the atmospheric allure of Venice, part of the artist’s acclaimed Second Venice Set of etchings. Exiled to Italy after his infamous libel trial against critic John Ruskin, Wh arrived in Venice in 1879 amid financial ruin. There, he produced around 50 etchings, revolutionizing printmaking with their loose, evocative lines that prioritize mood over meticulous detail—a hallmark of his Aesthetic movement philosophy, where “art for art’s sake” reigned supreme. Printed in dark brown ink on off-white laid paper using etching, drypoint, and ...
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...