The Doorway, One of the "Twelve Etchings," or the "First Venice Set" / James McNeill Whistler

About this Item

Record Details

Accession Number

1955/1.124

Title

The Doorway, One of 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

Object Creation Date

1879-1880

Credit Line

Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker

Inscription

On the plate, u.l.: Butterfly monogram Signed in pencil, on tab: Butterfly monogram and imp.

Dimensions

29.4 cm x 20.2 cm (11 9/16 in. x 7 15/16 in.)

Century

19th century

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 ornament 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 this 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.

Primary Keywords

arches

doorways

rivers

venice

Secondary Keywords

architecture

europe

geography

italy

locality

reflections

Rights

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Technical Details

Collection

University of Michigan Museum of Art

Image Size

971 x 1401

File Size

194 KB

Record

1955/1.124

Link to this Item

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1955-sl-1.124/1955_1.124.jpg content_copy

Related Links

IIIF

Manifest

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1955-SL-1.124:1955_1.124.JPG content_copy