The Garden

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, artist

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 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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Label texts

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.