James McNeill Whistler (Amer./Brit.,1834-1903)
Sketches On The Coast Survey Plate
1854-1855. Etching, initialed in plate upper centre, 14.5 x 26cm. Minor foxing overall, slight
tears, perforations and stains to margins, old mount burn.
Held in The Met, NY, with the comment “Whistler made his first etching while employed as a draftsman at the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in Washington, D.C., between 1854 and 1855. A staff member taught him the technique and supplied him with a copper plate, on which he etched topographic renderings of coastlines, then sketched freely drawn figures, and an oval vignette representing ‘Mrs. Partington and Ike’—characters from a Mark Twain story. The hooded hidalgo, or minor Spanish nobleman, at upper right is likely a self-portrait that hints at the artist’s bubbling ambition. Within a few months, he would be in Paris, pursing an artistic career.”
Ref item #CL184-23
Price (AUD): $3900
