There were four paintings by James A. M. Whistler (1834-1903) in the Armory Show;
all of which were figural works exhibited in Gallery P among significant French 19th
century paintings. The Armory Show organizers considered Whistler an “old master”
of American art and noteworthy in the chronology of modern art. His works were also
exhibited alongside Americans artists Albert Pinkham Ryder, Theodore Robinson and
John H. Twachtman. According to an interview with Marcel Duchamp in 1963, Whistler
and Sargent (the latter was not included in the Armory Show) were the only American
artists who were well known in Paris in 1913, likely because both were ex-patriots living
respectively in England and France. This is a revealing statement considering the
significantly low impact of American artists on modern art prior to the Armory Show.
In his article on the American section of the Armory Show, Ashcan artist and AAPS
chairman of the Committee on Domestic Exhibits, William Glackens, stated of Whistler,
“The Impressionists introduced the light of life into our art. The influence of Whistler
was a reaction against that light. His color had proved particularly attractive to
students, to the young painters, perhaps because it is a veil behind which to hide
inefficient drawing or because it makes good drawing easier. A knowledge of color is
far more difficult to acquire than a knowledge of drawing, though either of these may
be acquired by practice.” While one may argue that Whistler’s paintings do not exhibit
his draughtsmanship skills, his prints certainly reveal his aptitude for drawing coupled
with his masterful application of tonality, which together function to create an
atmospheric quality not altogether different from the distant stillness of his paintings.
Whistler was a prolific and acclaimed printmaker who was widely recognized
throughout his lifetime for the more than 490 etchings and nearly 180 lithographs that
he created and published. While his lithographs were generally issued in smaller
editions and became even more desirable after his death, his contribution to the
medium is nevertheless considered incredibly significant to the history of printmaking.
Whistler’s first etchings date from the late-1850s in Paris, where he ended up
determined to pursue an artistic career after several unsuccessful collegiate years at
West Point, United States Military Academy. These early works (including lot 14) reveal
the direct appreciation of old master etchings, notably the prints of Rembrandt, which
he would certainly have been familiar with through the study of the renowned collection
of his brother-in-law and fellow printmaker Francis Seymour Haden in London, with
their heavy chiaroscuro and expressive manipulation of the medium. After a flurry of
etchings in the 1860s and 1870s which focused primarily on views in and around the
Thames River in London, Whistler embarked on what is arguably his best known series
of etchings depicting views of Venice from around 1879-80.
In July 1879, the Fine Art Society of London commissioned Whistler to go to Venice and
return by December with a set of 12 etched plates. Whistler eagerly accepted the
commission, which gave him an opportunity to recoup the losses from his libel suit
against the art critic, John Ruskin, and salvage his overspending on the design of his
“White House” in Chelsea, London (the house and contents had to be auctioned after
he declared bankruptcy in 1879). Whistler and his then model and mistress, Maud
Franklin, arrived in Venice in September 1879 and remained there until November 1880.
During this incredibly productive time he created far more than the dozen etchings
stipulated by the commission, returning from Venice with over 50 etchings, several
nocturne paintings and approximately 100 pastels. Lots 16 and 17 were included in
A Set
of Twenty-Six Etchings
, also known as the
Second Venice Set
, from an edition of
approximately only 30 which were selected from the surplus of images Whistler brought
back with him. The spontaneity and delicate draughtsmanship in these Venice etchings
deeply influenced the next generation of American artists, notably Childe Hassam and
John Marin, who were among the most important Americans in the 1913 Armory Show.
