An Artist Abroad

This small book illustrates three sets of etchings by James McNeill Whistler. The influence of the French Realist tradition along with Rembrandt and the Dutch school are clearly apparent in the so-called French Set of 1858, a series of twelve figure studies and village scenes from early in his career in Paris. In London, Whistler produced an evocative series of sixteen etchings of the Thames and its surrounds: its people and haunts – the land, water, and cityscapes. The Thames Set was completed in 1861. In September 1879 Whistler set off for Venice to spend many months making etchings of its palaces and seascapes. The Venice Set and a later Venice series are notable for their beautiful painterly, poetic qualities – sublime visions rather than depictions of the everyday.