The Little Venice
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The Little Venice
Etching
1879 – 80
An original hand-signed James Abbott McNeill Whistler Etching.
1879 – 80
Original etching printed in black ink on laid paper.
Hand-signed with the butterfly monogram and annotated “imp.” in pencil on a tab lower left indicating that the impression was printed by Whistler himself.
A superb impression of Kennedy’s only state of this rare etching, from the edition of approximately 100 published by the Fine Art Society, London, 1880, in the series Venice, Whistler. Twelve Etchings, commonly referred to as the “First Venice Set”.
Catalog: Kennedy 183; Mansfield 180; Grolier Club 150; Wedmore 149
Size Image: 7 3/8 x 10 ½ inches
Sheet Size: 7 3/8 x 10 ½ inches
Reinforced by its title, this, the first of the Twelve Etchings is a typical tourist view, centered by the tall Campanile (bell tower) and the blocky Dodge’s Palace, with the domes of San Marco barely visible above. Taken from the Lido, Whistler’s panorama is so distanced that the city seems to float on a watery horizon, offering the haunting first impression so often glimpsed, remembered and later recounted by travelers to Venice. Striped poles mark open channels, and gondoliers row their elegant craft across the lagoon.
The theme which is perhaps most effectively developed and closely identified with Whistler’s Venice etchings is the view of the city “floating” on the water. This idea originated in the artist’s painted nocturnes of the early 1870’s. The formal arrangement consists of a string of architectural elements stretched across the horizon where sky meets water.
When this etching was exhibited along with its eleven companions at the Fine Art Society in December of 1880 as part of the exhibition Mr. Whistler’s Etchings of Venice, the newspaper the St. James Gazette praised it for his economical technique which “in its simplicity and contempt for elaboration reminds us more of the Spanish Goya than any other acquafortiste.” The comparison was unusual, Rembrandt being the artist most commonly compared with Whistler in the attempt to contextualize and validate his work.
