1859, James McNeill Whistler, Billingsgate -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)
From the museum label: Among the most widely distributed of all Whistler's Thames etchings, Billingsgate was initially begun in 1859. As his shop-front project gathered energy, he published this print three times between 1878 and 1882. Docked fishing boats nearly obscure the distinctive stone arches of new London Bridge, symbol of the "honourable British merchant" completed in 1831. By the time Whistler published his print, the fish market and its clock tower, visible at left, had already been torn down and replaced by an even larger building.
Link to other paintings from the exhibition Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change.
Link to other Whistler paintings.
1859, James McNeill Whistler, Billingsgate -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)
From the museum label: Among the most widely distributed of all Whistler's Thames etchings, Billingsgate was initially begun in 1859. As his shop-front project gathered energy, he published this print three times between 1878 and 1882. Docked fishing boats nearly obscure the distinctive stone arches of new London Bridge, symbol of the "honourable British merchant" completed in 1831. By the time Whistler published his print, the fish market and its clock tower, visible at left, had already been torn down and replaced by an even larger building.
Link to other paintings from the exhibition Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change.
Link to other Whistler paintings.