Own James Whistler's iconic etching Rotherhithe, a rare and highly sought-after masterpiece that is a valuable addition to any art collection!
This image is included in the collections of many prominent art museums, such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), The Art Institute of Chicago, Victoria and Albert Museum (London, England), Museum of London Docklands, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, and others.
Details:
The River Thames and its surrounding scenery, together with the wharves and warehouses along its banks, were a prime source of inspiration for Whistler throughout his life. His first Thames etchings date from 1858/9 and in 1871 his sixteen finest Thames etchings were published with great financial success. After Whistler was declared bankrupt as a result of his famous libel action against Ruskin, it was through his etchings of the Thames, and later of Venice, that he re-established both his name and his financial stability. The exceptional quality of this especially fine impression places it amongst the very finest examples of all of J.A.McN.Whistler’s Thames etchings. “Rotherhithe” is a graphic picture of the Thames as it looked during Whistler’s lifetime. This print, originally published as “Wapping”, is part of a series of images the artist produced depicting the East London neighborhoods of Rotherhithe and Wapping in 1859–60. While English painters had traditionally avoided portraying these industrial districts of the city throughout the nineteenth century, Whistler’s Thames series takes for subject the city’s poorest workers and highlights various members of the urban working class.
Artist Bio:
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834 – 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His signature for his paintings took the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger for a tail. The symbol combined both aspects of his personality: his art is marked by a subtle delicacy, while his public persona was combative. He found a parallel between painting and music, and entitled many of his paintings "arrangements", "harmonies", and "nocturnes", emphasizing the primacy of tonal harmony. His most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), commonly known as Whistler's Mother, is a revered and often parodied portrait of motherhood. Whistler influenced the art world and the broader culture of his time with his theories and his friendships with other leading artists and writers. Whistler produced numerous etchings, lithographs, and dry-points. His lithographs, some drawn on stone, others drawn directly on "lithographie" paper, are perhaps half as numerous as his etchings.