Street in Saverne1858
A narrow street in the Alsatian town of Saverne stretches away at night, its worn house fronts in deep shadow and a single figure in the distance. More about this work
About this work
A narrow street in the Alsatian town of Saverne stretches away at night, its worn house fronts in deep shadow and a single figure in the distance. Whistler etched it in 1858 on a walking tour through France and the Rhineland, and it was published that year in Twelve Etchings from Nature, known as the French Set, his first published series. Made two decades before his famous Nocturnes, it shows how early he was drawn to the effects of darkness, built up here with dense lines and an experimental textured ground.
Written by Ochre Editions.
What you’re looking at
The image shows a street scene from a close perspective down a narrow alleyway. The horizon is not visible, with buildings on both sides. The style features detailed etching with fine lines and shading for depth and texture. The color palette is monochromatic with black, gray, and off-white tones. The houses have worn facades, and there is a distant figure. The sky is dark and overcast, enhancing the shadow-filled scene.
Description from the National Gallery of Art.
How it was made
- 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 National Gallery of Art 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
- 2005.99.38
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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