Under Old Battersea Bridge
1876/78
Medium
Etching, drypoint and open bite, with foul biting, with drypoint cancellation, in black ink on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 21.4 × 13.8 cm (8 7/16 × 5 7/16 in.); Sheet, sight, bound: 37.9 × 24 cm (14 15/16 × 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
190734
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s *Under Old Battersea Bridge* (1876/78) captures a moody glimpse of London’s industrial Thames River, viewed from beneath the aging Battersea Bridge. As an American expatriate who made his home in Britain, Whistler was captivated by the river’s shifting lights and fog-shrouded banks during the late Victorian era. This etching belongs to his celebrated Thames series, where he elevated everyday urban scenes into poetic visions, aligning with his Aesthetic movement mantra of “art for art’s sake and subtle tonal harmonies over narrative detail. Printed in black ink on crea...
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...