Old Putney Bridge
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
American Art
A major proponent of Aestheticism and Japonisme, James McNeill Whistler also helped to revitalize etching as a serious, creative pursuit. His appreciation for this medium was fostered, in part, by close study of etchings by the seventeenth-century Dutch master Rembrandt. For his own prolific output, Whistler often went out into the streets of London (where he settled in 1859), capturing urban views directly onto plates. Back in the studio, he would painstakingly experiment with inking processes and the timing of the acid bath, refining his original conceptions to create prints of great technical and visual complexity. Internationally acclaimed and exhibited, Whistler’s etchings exerted a strong influence on a younger generation of American painter-etchers.
MEDIUM
Black ink on handmade laidpaper with a watermark and a countermark
DATES
1879
DIMENSIONS
Image: 8 x 11 3/4 in. (20.3 x 29.8 cm)
Sheet: 11 13/16 x 15 7/8 in. (30 x 40.3 cm) (show scale)
MARKINGS
Watermark: "PRO PATRIA" with a lion and a female figure within a fence-like circle
Countermark: "LVG"
On verso, Henry Harper Benedict's collector's mark stamped in black, "HHB" monogram
Pro Patria watermark in paper
SIGNATURE
Signed butterfly monogram with "imp." in graphite below lower right corner of plate; signed butterfly monogram followed by "x x [v or n?]" in graphite at lower right of sheet; printed monogram at lower center of plate
INSCRIPTIONS
On verso, inscribed in graphite at lower left of sheet: "K. IV of IV"
On verso, inscribed in graphite: "E3863"
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
51.238.1
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Guy Mayer
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903). Old Putney Bridge, 1879. Black ink on handmade laidpaper with a watermark and a countermark, Image: 8 x 11 3/4 in. (20.3 x 29.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Guy Mayer, 51.238.1 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 51.238.1_PS1.jpg)
STATE
4th State
IMAGE
overall, 51.238.1_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement.
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act.
The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals.
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
