James Abbott McNeill Whistler. 1834-1903.
Eagle Wharf (Tyzac, Whiteley & Co). 1859. Etching. Kennedy 41. 5 7/16 x 8 7/16 (sheet 6 3/8 x 8 7/16). Series: "Sixteen Etchings or Scenes on the Thames and Other Subjects." (Thames Set). Probably a proof from the 1871 edition of the Thames Set published by Ellis and Green. A rich impression printed in black ink on 'Van Gelder' cream laid paper on the full sheet with deckle edges. Illustrated: Tyler, American Etchings of the Nineteenth Century. Signed and dated in the plate. $5,500.
This image depicts the Eagle Wharf(Tyzac, Whistley & Co in Ratcliffe and belongs to Whistler's Series of Sixteen Etchings on the Thames now commonly referred to as the Thames set. In the 1790's, the East India Company built several warehouses on the wharf. Those can be seen in Whistler's image. Today, only luxury housing can be found on this site.
When Whistler had moved from Paris to London in May of 1859, he had absorbed the French Impressionist feeling for light and wanted to apply it to a British approach to composition and theme. Because of his ascination with the Thames, Whistler moved to a pub at Wapping to be as close to the river as possible in order to experience every mood. Whistler studied the working men whose lives were intimately connected with the river, and who lived on its boats and barges, docks and wharves, and in the dark streets and alleys around Wapping and Limehouse.
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