Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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r.: Sketch for the Selection and Arrangement of the First Venice Set; v.: 'The Dyer' and Shutters

Composition


                    r.: Sketch for the Selection and Arrangement of the First Venice Set, Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University
r.: Sketch for the Selection and Arrangement of the First Venice Set, Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University

                    v.: 'The Dyer' and Shutters, Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University
v.: 'The Dyer' and Shutters, Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University

These are drawings for the selection and arrangement of Venice etchings for Mr Whistler's Etchings, Fine Art Society, London, 1880, including The Dyer [192].

According to Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913),

'he had not settled which of the many subjects he had brought back should form the twelve, and ... he drew those he proposed at that moment; and also an alternative, "The Dyer"... they are all drawn the right way round, as he saw them in nature, not as they appear in the prints.' 1

Those shown on the recto are, reading from left to right: top row, The Little Venice [238], The Two Doorways [221], The Little Lagoon [216], The Traghetto, No. 2 [233], The Piazzetta [218], The Venetian Mast [219], and The Palaces [223]; middle row, The Riva [229], The Beggars [190], San Biagio [237], The Doorway [193], and Nocturne [222]; bottom row, Upright Venice [232] and The Bridge, Santa Marta [201]. All of those on the top rows were published in the first Venice set, the 'Twelve Etchings' of Venice. The Bridge, Santa Marta [201] and Upright Venice [232] were included in the second published set. The Little Venice [238] and The Riva [229] were not drawn as in nature and on the plate, but as printed.

Notes:

1: Way 1912 [more] , p. 43.

Last updated: 21st February 2021 by Margaret