The Unsafe Tenement. One of the Twelve Etchings from Nature. (The French Set)
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1898.216
Tags
About this artwork
4, 1
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler, the renowned American-born artist (1834–1903), created *The Unsafe Tenement* 1858 as part of his seminal *Twelve Etchings from*, affectionately known as "The French Set." Produced during Whistler's formative years in Paris, this marked his early embrace of Realism, influenced by French contemporaries like Gustave Courbet and Alphonse Legros.ing from the polished academic art of the time, Whistler turned to etching to capture raw urban life with unvarnished honesty, reflecting the gritty realities of working-class neighborhoods. The print depicts a dilapidated tenement ...