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Old Battersea Bridge

A work made of etching and drypoint, with foul biting, in brown on cream laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching and drypoint, with foul biting, in brown on cream laid paper.

Date:

1879

Artist:

James McNeill Whistler
American, 1834-1903

About this artwork

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.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

James McNeill Whistler

Title

Old Battersea Bridge

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1879

Medium

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

Dimensions

Plate: 20.2 × 29.3 cm (8 × 11 9/16 in.); Sheet: 20.6 × 29.3 cm (8 1/8 × 11 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Bryan Lathrop Collection

Reference Number

1934.597

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/109217/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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