Atelier de Bijouterie

Object Details

Label

While most of Whistler’s shop fronts feature humble enterprises such as greengrocers and fishmongers, a sign centering this composition reads “Atelier de Bijouterie,” indicating jewelry for sale. Groups of people crowd the edges of the scene, bracketing a lone little boy standing in the middle of the empty sidewalk, his back to the viewer. His posture makes it difficult to determine whether he is staring into the heavily barred central window of the jewelry shop or looking at the women in the doorway at right. Only three impressions are recorded, and the city depicted remains undetermined.

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 G378 state 1 of 1.

Provenance

From 1906 to 1919

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Company of the Butterfly, London, in 1906 [1]

From 1920

Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:

[1] See Original Whistler List, Etchings, pg. 96, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Society of the Butterfly [Company of the Butterfly] was James McNeill Whistler's London business through which he sold his works.

[2] 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)

Previous custodian or owner

Company of the Butterfly (1897-1903) (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

ca. 1892-1893

Credit Line

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

Medium

Etching; ink on paper

Dimensions

H x W: 12.7 x 21.7 cm (5 x 8 9/16 in)

Type

Print