Doorway and Vine

In his etching Doorway and Vine, James McNeill Whistler presents the lovely façade of an old Venetian building bathed in sunlight and covered with a leafy vine growing from the left. Above the entrance of a sottoportico—a cavernous passage way cut through a building—two figures peer from an upper-story window. In the tunnel, Whistler modulated an increasingly darker concentration of lines to convey receding space, culminating in a backlit doorway where a silhouetted man stands looking at the canal scene beyond. Framed entryways and dark passageways receding to a sunlit background yielded compositions that intrigued Whistler, as demonstrated in several Venetian views, including Beggars (TF 1994.8), Fish Shop, Venice (TF 1992.151), and San Biagio (TF 1992.157), as well as a much earlier London etching, The Lime-Burner (TF 1995.4).

Created while the artist was in Venice from September 1879 to November 1880, Doorway and Vine was published in 1886 as part of "A Set of Twenty-six Etchings," known as the "Second Venice Set." While printing the edition of this portfolio, Whistler established his idiosyncratic method of presenting his etched image: he trimmed each sheet to the edge of the platemark, leaving only a small tab projecting at the bottom. On that tab he pencil-signed his distinctive butterfly monogram, stylizing his intertwined initials JMW to suggest the insect, as seen on this impression as well as his Fruit Stall (TF 1992.153), Bead Stringers (TF 1992.145), Nocturne: Palaces (TF 1996.52), and others. Doorway and Vine also incorporates the butterfly signature in the etching, visible to the right of the doorway above the ground line.

Regard sur James Abbott McNeill Whistler (James Abbott McNeill Whistler at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 30, 1994 (on exhibit partial run: September 20–October 30, 1994).

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

Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 11–October 31, 1997.

The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context (L’atelier de la Nature, 1860-1910. Invitation à la Terra Collection). Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny (organizers). Venue: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, France, September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021. [exh. cat. in French]

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. 196 vi/ix.

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. 213.

Grieve, Alastair. Whistler's Venice. New Haven, Connecticut, and London, England: Yale University Press, 2000. Text pp. 131, 192; fig. 159, p. 130 (K.196 vii).Bourguignon, Katherine and Valerie Reis. The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context. (exh. cat, Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny). Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2020.  Text p. 52; Ill. p. 96 (detail); Pl. 31, p. 97 (color).