Street Scene, Paris [Rue Laffitte (?) ] / James McNeill Whistler
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1955/1.91
- Title
- Street Scene, Paris [Rue Laffitte (?) ]
- Artist
- James McNeill Whistler
- Artist Nationality
- American
- Artist Life Dates
- 1834-1903
- Medium and Support
- watercolor on brown prepared board
- Object Creation Date
- circa 1883-1885
- Object Creation Place
- North America
- American
- Creation Place 1
- North America
- Creation Place 2
- American
- Credit Line
- Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker
- Inscription
- Signed with butterfly, c.r.
- Dimensions
- 21.6 cm x 12.7 cm (8 1/2 in. x 5 in.)
- Century
- 19th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Drawing
- Primary Object Type
- life drawing
- Physical Description
- This watercolor on brown prepared board is vertically oriented. The piece
- is reputedly a view of a Parisian street (perhaps in the 8th arrondissement), and the perspective is as if the viewer is on the fourth floor of an adjacent
- building. The upper two-thirds of the piece show a building-lined street,
- curving gently to the left. The buildings are about six stories tall, and
- additional rooftops are barely visible in the distance. On the ground
- floor of the buildings, there are traces of people, shops, and cafés. In
- the bottom third of the work, the road dissolves, but forms suggesting a
- few people populate the space.
- Subject Matter
- This work was painted around the time Whistler turned 50. The artist had just lived in Venice for a year (1879-80) and was now living in London. Rue Laffitte is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, between the Boulevard des Italiens and the Rue de Provence. Whistler created over 1700 watercolors in his lifetime. He painted thinly, leaving areas blank to suggest light or texture. He outlined a subject in pencil or brush, and then added washes quickly with small brushes, altering, but rarely rubbing out.
- Secondary Keywords
- architecture
- cityscapes
- europe
- france
- groups
- locality
- movement
- people and occupations
- streets
- 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
- 695 x 1183
- File Size
- 54 KB
- Record
- 1955/1.91
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1955-sl-1.91/1955_1.91.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1955-SL-1.91:1955_1.91.JPG
Cite this Item
View the Help Guide for more information.
- Full citation
-
"Street Scene, Paris [Rue Laffitte (?) ]; James McNeill Whistler." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1955-sl-1.91/1955_1.91.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 19, 2024.
