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(American, 1834–1903)

Shipping, Venice

1879–80
Etching and drypoint on buff laid paper
Plate: 12 x 8 3/16 in. (30.5 x 20.8 cm)
Sheet: 15 7/8 x 9 1/2 in. (40.3 x 24.1 cm)
Mat: 18 x 14 in. (45.7 x 35.6 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1992.159
SignedUnsigned
Interpretation
In his etching Shipping, Venice, James McNeill Whistler used a minimum of wispy lines to suggest a cluster of sailboats, barges, and tall ships in the Giudecca Canal, Venice's main waterway, while the water itself is indicated simply by a nearly blank expanse in the left center of  the image. In the distance at the far left, Whistler sketched the outlines of the campanile (bell tower), Palladian-style façade, and prominent dome of the church of San Giorgio Maggiore. A handful of scratchy lines barely indicate the dock that spreads across the foreground and stretches into the right distance, where three sketchy figures are just visible. Shipping, Venice demonstrates the economy of Whistler's evocative representation of objective reality, and his equal interest in the decorative arrangement of forms on the two-dimensional picture surface as an aesthetic goal in its own right.

Made during Whistler's fourteen-month sojourn in Venice in 1879–1880, this print was not selected for publication in either of his two "Venice Sets," the print portfolios the artist published after his return to London. This vertical, sketchy etching is one of several panoramic views of Venice in which Whistler focused on distant shipping; another is The Riva, No. 1 (TF 1992.156). Shipping, Venice is compositionally similar to the pastel The Zattere: Harmony in Blue and Brown (TF 1992.162), although it represents the opposite side of the Giudecca Canal.
ProvenanceThe artist
Davis & Langdale Company, Inc., New York, New York
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1985
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1992
Exhibition History
Arts Council, no. 36.

Regard sur James Abbott McNeill Whistler (James Abbott McNeill Whistler at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 30, 1994.

American Treasures: Chase, Whistler and the Prendergasts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 26, 1996–January 5, 1997.

Le Japonisme en Amérique: oeuvres sur papier, 1880–1930 (Japonisme in America: Works on Paper, 1880–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, September 15–November 30, 2002.

James Whistler–Zoran Music: Venecia, Instituto Valencià d'Art Modern, Valencià, Spain (organizer). Venue: Instituto Valencià d'Art Modern, Valencià, Spain, July 19–October 15, 2004.
Published References
Kennedy, Edward Guthrie. The Etched Work of Whistler. Illustrated by reproductions in collotype of the different states of the plates. New York: Grolier Club, 1910. No. 229.

Lochnan, Katharine A. The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler. New Haven, Connecticut and London, England: Art Gallery of Ontario and Yale University Press, 1984. No. 196.

Grieve, Alastair. Whistler's Venice. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2000. Text p. 80.

MacDonald, Margaret F. Palaces in the Night: Whistler in Venice. Hampshire, England: Lund Humphries, 2001. Text p. 70.

James Whistler–Zoran Music: Venecia. (exh. cat. Institut Valencià d'Art Modern) Valencià, Spain: Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, 2005. Ill, p.179 (color).
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