Art Institute of Chicago

Old Battersea Bridge

James McNeill Whistler

Date

1879

Medium

Etching and drypoint, with foul biting, in brown on cream laid paper

Culture

United States

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The conceit of architectural elements placed in the middle ground beyond an expanse of water is one that recurs in Whistler’s printed and painted works, including Black Lion Wharf and later subject like his Venice Nocturnes . For this scene, which depicts the timber bridge crossing the Thames and spanning the neighborhoods of Chelsea and Battersea, the artist left a significant amount of surface area unprinted. The selective wiping of the plate, not printed lines, conveys the color and quality of the water’s surface in the lower register of the image.

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