Black Lion Wharf (K 42 III) from The Thames Set

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Black Lion Wharf (K 42 III) from The Thames Set

Artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler American, 1834-1903

Date1859

Dimensions7 15/16 × 10 11/16 in. (20.2 × 27.1 cm)
Image: 5 7/8 × 8 7/8 in. (14.9 × 22.5 cm)

Mediumetching and drypoint

ClassificationPrints

Object number

1912.1190

Not on View

Collections

Works on Paper

Exhibition HistoryTMA, Whistler: Influences, Friends, and the Not-So-Friendly, Feb. 26 - May 30, 2010.Label TextBlack Lion Wharf is composed in ways similar to early photography and Japanese prints. The sky was often minimized in early photography, as exposure for both land and sky was very difficult, if not impossible. The skies would be bereft of detail and compositionally bland while the land would often be overexposed and dark. Photographers would therefore expose for the land and eliminate as much of the sky as possible. The Japanese style of woodblock prints flattened space and divided the composition into sections using strong horizontal and vertical elements. The 18th-century Japanese artists Hiroshige and Hokusai, whose works appear in this exhibition, were very popular in Europe in the mid- to late 19th century. Like Hiroshige, Whistler flattened the picture space and raised the horizon line to create a sense of recession.