The Visitors' Boat
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1888.2
Tags
About this artwork
Whistler etchings are identified by "G" numbers as assigned in "James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonne," by Margaret F. McDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock (University of Glasgow, 2012), http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk. This print is G303 state 1 of 1.
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), the renowned American-born artist who championed "art for art's sake," created *The Visitors' Boat* 1887 as part of his masterful etching series. A pioneer of Aestheticism and tonal harmony, Whistler drew inspiration from everyday scenes, often capturing subtle atmospheric effects with boats and waterways—a motif echoing his famous Thames etchings from the 1850s and Venetian works of the 1880s. This print, cataloged as G303 (state 1 of 1) in the definitive University of Glasgow *James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings* raisonné, exemplifies his precise yet evoc...