Minneapolis Institute of Art

Long Venice

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Date

1879–80

Medium

Etching and drypoint printed on antique laid paper

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

James McNeill Whistler’s panorama shows Venice in mirror image, meaning the he working on his etching plate just as though he was sketching on the spot. To the left we see the Doge’s palace and to the right of center a hazy suggestion of the domes of Santa Maria della Salute. Tiny gondolas traverse the lagoon. The sky is filled with sweeping and billowing clouds. Whistler left the watery foreground blank, except for his stylized butterfly signature at lower left. A small tab of paper descends from the lower edge of the sheet. On it, drawn in pencil, is a simplified version of the butterfly. England, United States, Americas, Europe

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