The Tall Bridge

Maker(s)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Historical period(s)
1878
Medium
Lithotint; ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 27.6 x 18.1 cm (10 7/8 x 7 1/8 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1888.22
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Print
Type

Lithograph

Keywords
bridge, United States
Provenance

To 1888
H. Wunderlich & Co., New York to 1888 [1]

From 1888 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from H. Wunderlich & Co. in 1888 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Whistler List, Lithographs, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
H. Wunderlich & Co. (C.L. Freer source) 1874-1912

Label

Unlike Whister's early lithotints that were drawn directly on the printing stone, The Broad Bridge was based on a preliminary charcoal drawing. Whistler traced the drawing onto his stone, going over the resulting outline with a crayon before completing the design by adding washes. When he was almost finished, he scraped away some of the tone to lighten the sky between piers and add highlights to the water. Although the image is in reverse, the view is through the wooden piers of old Battersea Bridge, with the warehouses and smokestacks of Battersea silhouetted against the sky.

Whistler lithographs are identified by "C." numbers as described in The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998). This print is C12.

Published References
  • The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler. 2 vol., Chicago and New York, 1998. .
  • Ruth Fine, (Annotated bibliography) Eric Denker. Drawing Near: Whistler Etchings from the Zelman Collection. Los Angeles, 1984. p. 72.
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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