St. James's Street

Object Details

Edition/State

2, 1

Label

Whistler declared bankruptcy following a series of personal and professional difficulties, including quarrels with his patron Frederick Leyland over the Peacock Room, expenses related to his new home, and the cost of an ongoing lawsuit against art critic John Ruskin. Whistler drew this bird’s-eye view of St. James Street—home to exclusive gentlemen’s clubs—expressly to raise funds. The British weekly magazine Vanity Fair commissioned and reproduced the image in its July 2, 1878, issue. By September, Whistler would be in Venice, working on a much larger commission from the Fine Art Society.

Whistler etchings are identified by "G" numbers as assigned in "James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonn&‌eacute;," by Margaret F. McDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock (University of Glasgow, 2012), http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk. This print is G178 state 2 of 4.

Provenance

Joshua Hutchinson Hutchinson (circa 1829-1891), London [1]

To 1892

Frederick Keppel and Co., London, England, and New York to 1892 [2]

From 1892 to 1919

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Frederick Keppel and Co. in 1892 [3]

From 1920

Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

Notes:

[1] Hutchinson Collection stamp in margin (see Curatorial Remarks in the object record).

[2] See Original Whistler List, Etchings, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[3] See note 2.

[4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Collection

Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Exhibition History

Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change (November 18, 2023 to May 4, 2024)

Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Prints, East Corridor (January 5, 1944 to January 8, 1947)

Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Etchings and Lithographs (April 4, 1930 to January 20, 1944)

Etchings and Dry Points by Whistler (March 23, 1925 to March 24, 1930)

Special Exhibition, Whistler Etchings and Lithographs (January 14, 1924 to February 18, 1924)

Previous custodian or owner

Joshua Hutchinson Hutchinson (ca. 1829-1891)

Frederick Keppel and Co. (1868-1940) (C.L. Freer source)

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Data Source

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Artist

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

Date

1878

Credit Line

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Medium

Etching; ink on paper

Dimensions

H x W (overall): 27.8 x 17.6 cm (10 15/16 x 6 15/16 in)

Type

Print