The Beggars, One of the 'Twelve Etchings,' or the 'First Venice Set' / James McNeill Whistler
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1954/1.382
- Title
- The Beggars, One of the 'Twelve Etchings,' or the 'First Venice Set'
- Artist
- James McNeill Whistler
- Artist Nationality
- American
- Artist Life Dates
- 1834-1903
- Object Creation Date
- 1879-1880
- Credit Line
- Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker
- Inscription
- Signed in pencil on tab, l.l.: Butterfly monogram and imp. Watermark: V C H (?)
- Dimensions
- 30.9 cm x 21.4 cm (12 3/16 in. x 8 7/16 in.)
- Century
- 19th century
- Physical Description
- A deep covered passageway dominates the composition. At the near end of the passage, to the right side stand a woman and young girl, both with heads covered and looking at the viewer. Looking down the passageway, light catches the timbered ceiling and figures can be seen walking at the far end, silhouetted against the bright light in the square or street beyond. A lantern hangs above the entrance at the near end of the passage.
- Subject Matter
- Whistler was enchanted with Venice and found the people and buildings he encounted along the back canals to be full of possibilities. The people he sketched, such as the woman and girl in the foreground of "The Beggars" are portrayed sympathetically, without resorting to stereotypes or cliches. The Glasgow catalogue raisonné identifies the passageway as the Sotoportego e Corte de le Carozze, near Camp Santa Margarita, Venice.
- Secondary Keywords
- architecture
- buildings and the land
- europe
- figures
- italy
- locality
- open spaces
- open spaces and site elements
- open spaces by function
- people and occupations
- roads
- roads by form
- streets
- streets by form
- transportation spaces
- 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
- 923 x 1395
- File Size
- 174 KB
- Record
- 1954/1.382
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1954-sl-1.382/1954_1.382.jpg
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Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1954-SL-1.382:1954_1.382.JPG
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- Full citation
-
"The Beggars, One of 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-1.382/1954_1.382.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 23, 2024.
