Nocturne, from Venice, a Series of Twelve Etchings (the "First Venice Set")1879–80
Night settles over the Venetian lagoon, the far shore reduced to a thin line of buildings between dark water and sky. More about this work
About this work
Night settles over the Venetian lagoon, the far shore reduced to a thin line of buildings between dark water and sky. Whistler went to Venice in 1879 with a commission for twelve etchings and stayed fourteen months, returning with dozens of plates. In his nocturnes he relied on the printing as much as the etched line: he left a film of ink on the plate and wiped it selectively, so that each impression has its own atmosphere. The Nocturne belongs to the First Venice Set, published in 1880.
Written by Ochre Editions.
What you’re looking at
A work made of etching and drypoint in brown on cream laid paper.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Drypoint
- Lines scratched straight into the plate with a needle throw up a ridge of metal, the burr, which holds ink and prints a soft, furred line. The burr wears down, so early impressions are the richest.
- Etching
- The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.
- Laid paper
- Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.
James McNeill Whistler
American, 1834–1903 · Born in Lowell, Massachusetts; died in London.
Whistler spent part of his boyhood in Russia, left West Point without graduating and trained as a painter in Paris before settling in London in 1859. He held that a picture was an arrangement of colour and form, and named his works symphonies, harmonies and nocturnes; a hostile review of one nocturne led to his 1878 libel suit against John Ruskin. He was equally committed to etching, and in his Venice plates of 1879–80 he left films of ink on the copper to suggest water and dusk.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1934.562
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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