The Doorway, from the "Twelve Etchings", or the "First Venice Set" / James McNeill Whistler
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1954/1.375
- Title
- The Doorway, from the "Twelve Etchings", or the "First Venice Set"
- Artist
- James McNeill Whistler
- Artist Nationality
- American
- Artist Life Dates
- 1834-1903
- Medium and Support
- etching, drypoint, and roulette on laid paper on laid paper
- Object Creation Date
- 1879-1880
- Object Creation Place
- North America
- American
- Creation Place 1
- North America
- Creation Place 2
- American
- Credit Line
- Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker
- Style/Group/Movement
- Aesthetic Movement
- Inscription
- On the plate, u.l.: Butterfly monogram Signed in pencil, on tab: Butterfly monogram and imp. Watermark (?)
- Dimensions
- 29.4 cm x 20.2 cm (11 9/16 in. x 7 15/16 in.)
- Century
- 19th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Primary Object Type
- intaglio print
- Physical Description
- A large ornate waterdoor faces onto a canal. On the threshold near the water, a woman bends down towards the surface of the canal. Behind the doorway stands another figure in the shadows and beyond is another opening to a small square or open-air workspace. The Doorway consists of a large lunette shaped transom light over the door and the portal is flanked on either side by large arched windows. The glazing is all fitted into a fine network of mullions in either square on diamond patterns. The door and windows are each framed by carved pilasters and engaged corinthian capitals. Below the windows are bands of rosettes and other carved ornaments that extends to the water level.
- Subject Matter
- Whistler discovered "a Venice within Venice" that had never captured the attention of earlier artists. Rather than focus on Venice's grand public spaces, he worked along the back canals, in both pastel and in etching, finding topics of local color and rich detail. This doorway belonged to a chair repair shop. In the first state--and again in the last state--the woman's stooping gesture is given significance by the cloth in her hand; she is washing out dye in the canal. In this state the fabric has not been redrawn yet.
- Primary Keywords
- arches
- canals
- doorways and doorway components
- reflections
- standing
- steps
- venice (inhabited place)
- windows
- Secondary Keywords
- arches and arch components
- architectural elements
- associated concepts
- buildings and the land
- circulation elements
- components
- components and systems
- components by specific context
- energy and related concepts
- energy-related concepts
- europe (continent)
- geographic and political locations
- hydraulic structures
- hydraulic structures by form
- italy (nation)
- light-related concepts
- openings (architectural elements)
- openings and opening components
- openings by form
- people and culture
- physical activities
- physical activities by general context
- physical sciences concepts
- physics concepts
- scientific concepts
- single built works
- single built works by function
- single built works by specific type
- spanning and projecting structural elements
- stair components
- stairs and stair components
- steps and step components
- structural elements
- structural elements and structural element components
- veneto (region)
- venezia (province)
- windows and window components
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 933 x 1409
- File Size
- 183 KB
- Record
- 1954/1.375
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1954-sl-1.375/1954_1.375.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1954-SL-1.375:1954_1.375.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"The Doorway, from the "Twelve Etchings", or the "First Venice Set"; James McNeill Whistler." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1954-sl-1.375/1954_1.375.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 05, 2024.