The Garden, James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Artwork Overview

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, The Garden
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, The Garden
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The Garden
1880
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
1834–1903
The Garden, 1880
Portfolio/Series title: A Set of Twenty-Six Etchings
Where object was made: England, United Kingdom
Material/technique: laid paper; etching; drypoint
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 305 x 238 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 12 1/2 x 9 3/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 20 x 16 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund
Accession number: 1990.0003
Not on display
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Exhibition Label: "American Etchers Abroad, 1880-1939," Apr-2004, Reed Anderson For "The Garden," Whistler made use of the centralized motif, a characteristic of his etchings. He also employed a new compositional format in which the viewer looks through a succession of framing devices. This format would be appropriated by many of his followers. Whistler probably sketched this scene from a gondola. The etching depicts a youth sitting on the water washed steps leading down to a canal. His body language suggests that he has been caught in a daydream; although he looks in the direction of the cat perched several steps above him, his thoughts lie elsewhere. The viewer is directed past the boy, through the series of passageways that lead into a courtyard shaded by a large tree and beyond, to another doorway in which a woman and three small children are visible. A remarkable detail, and evidence of Whistler’s virtuosity as an artist and etcher, is the reflection of the boy’s leg in the murky waters of the canal.