The Unsafe Tenement from "The French Set"

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

Date1858

DimensionsSheet: 10 1/2 × 9 1/8 in. (26.7 × 23.2 cm)

Mediumetching

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineBequest of Barbara Reed

Object number

2022.2

Not on View

DescriptionThe scene depicted is a dilapidated traditional timber-framed farmhouse. Broken windows, doors, gaps in the gables, and nary a straight line all indicate the precarious dwelling. Farm equipment, a barrel, and various other debris are scattered around the grounds surrounding the farmhouse. A dog lies before an open door and near a slanted kennel. A young girl stands near a half open door to what may be an outhouse with another child inside. Hay and hay racks are seen on the right.

Published ReferencesMansfield, Howard, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etchings and Dry- Points of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Chicago, 1909 cat. nos. 17-18.

Kennedy, Edward G., The Etched Work of Whistler, New York, 1910, cat. nos. 17, 19.