The Fleet: Monitors
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1888.4
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 G306 state 1 of 2.
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s 1887 etching *The Fleet: Monitors* captures a quiet study of naval vessels through the artist’s signature economy of line. An American expatriate working in Britain, Whistler had by this date established himself as one of era’s most innovative printmakers. The sheet belongs to his later series of Thames and coastal subjects, rendered with the delicate, atmospheric touch that earned his etchings the affectionate nickname “Rembrandt’s little children.” Identified as state 1 of 2 (G306) in the modern catalogue raisonné, the print reveals Whistler’s meticulous working met...