James Abbott McNeill Whistler's The Little Lagoon  (Frontpage)  (More on James Abbott McNeill Whistler)  (Thumbnail Index)
 
 
 
The Little Lagoon
James Abbott McNeill Whistler  
American painter (1834-1903)
1859
Freer/Sackler Gallery,
Washington, D.C.
Etching and drypoint on paper
22.5 x 15.3 cm 
Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1898.381 
Jpg: Freer/Sackler
 
From: the Sckler Freer Gallery

Progressive critics praised the spareness of Whistler's prints. In an essay published after Whistler's death in 1903, Charles Caffin observed, "In his . . . Venetian etchings, [Whistler] confined himself to a few lines contrasted with large spaces of white paper. But the lines are used with such wonderful knowledge and skill that they are sufficient to suggest the character of the objects, while the chief meaning is given to the empty spaces. These cease to be mere paper; they convey the impression of water or sky under the effects of atmosphere and light, and, moreover, they stimulate the imagination." 

Charles H. Caffin, "How to Study Pictures: Comparing Whistler with Sargent," St. Nicholas 32 (October 1905): 1097. 
(Freer/Sackler)

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By:  Natasha Wallace
Copyright 1998-2005 all rights reserved
Created 1/23/2004

 

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