Chelsea Bridge and Church

1871

Not on view

In this etching, Whistler looks along the Thames toward Chelsea Old Church and the Albert Bridge. As a resident of the area, he knew that pending construction of the Embankment would soon significantly alter the riverbank. His admiration for Japanese woodblock prints influenced the oriental profile of the distant bridge, placement of the barge and rowboat in the left foreground, and soft dark contours where the etching has been strengthened with drypoint. This was the latest work included in Ellis & Green’s 1871 publication of the "Thames Set," postdating other prints in the portfolio by a decade.

Artwork Details

Title: Chelsea Bridge and Church
Series/Portfolio: Thames Set ("A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and Other Subjects" 1871)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
Date: 1871
Medium: Etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on ivory laid paper; fifth state of seven (Glasgow)
Dimensions: Plate: 3 15/16 × 6 5/8 in. (10 × 16.9 cm)
Sheet: 8 13/16 × 11 13/16 in. (22.4 × 30 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Object Number: 17.3.65
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By James McNeill Whistler

In the same medium

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The artist's butterfly in an enlarged version with a forked tail

James McNeill Whistler

19th century

Reading, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithograph with scraping; printed in black ink on grayish chine mounted on ivory wove paper; fourth state of four (Chicago) — Reading
James McNeill Whistler
1879

Windsor (Memorial), James McNeill Whistler American, Drypoint; third state of four (Glasgow); printed in dark brown ink on ivory laid paper — Windsor (Memorial)
James McNeill Whistler
1887

Early Morning, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithotint with scraping, on a prepared half-tint ground, printed in black ink on cream wove paper; third state of four (Chicago) — Early Morning
James McNeill Whistler
1878

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