Gretchen at Heidelberg
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1898.226
Tags
About this artwork
Whistler etchings are identified by "G" numbers as assigned in "James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonne," by Margaret F. McDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock (University of Glasgow, 2012), http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk. This print is G21 state 1 of 1.
Art Historical Context
In 1858, James McNeill Whistler, renowned American artist famous for his elegant, atmospheric works and association with the Aesthetic movement, *Gretchen at Heidelberg This intimate portrait etching (catalogued as G21, 1 of 1 in the definitive University of Glasgow catalogue raisonné) captures a moment from Whistler's early travels in Europe, likely evoking the German city of Heidelberg and perhaps alluding to the literary figure Gretchen from Goethe's *Fa*. Produced during his formative etching phase (1857–1861), it reflects his fascination with Realism and the technical precision of 19th-ce...