The Thames (W125)

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The Thames (W125)

Artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903)

Date1896

DimensionsOverall: 12 3/16 x 8 3/4 in. (31 x 22.2 cm);
Image: 10 3/8 x 7 5/8 in. (26.3 x 19.3 cm)

Mediumlithotint on off-white wove paper

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1923.41

Not on View

DescriptionJames Abbott McNeill Whistler American, 1834–1903 Nocturne Lithotint, 1887 Museum purchase, 1923.75 In 1912, T. R. Way, the master printer of Whistler’s lithotints (see prints by Way nearby), recalled that this particular print was drawn, “…from memory while Whistler sat in the printing offices of Wellington Street.” Whistler had painted the scene many times as it was the dominant view from his apartment windows. From those windows he saw the spire of Battersea Church, industrial slag heaps, the lighted clock tower of the Morgan Crucible Company, warehouses, and chimneys. Using the lithotint process (a printing technique that gives the appearance of a drawing made with ink washes), Whistler softened the hard-edged industrial landscape, finding beauty where others could not. This print is a rare proof of the first state printed on ivory paper. A few accidental spots and some areas of pooled wash along the left edge are plainly visible.

Exhibition HistoryTMA, Whistler: Influences, Friends, and the Not-So-Friendly, Feb. 26 - May 30, 2010.