WHISTLER, James Abbot McNeill, The Smith's Yard, 1897

1834 Lowell (Massachusetts) - 1903 London Whistler grew up in New England. In 1843 the family moved to Russia, where he received his first drawing … [Read biography »]

Signed James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834 - 1903), Original Lithograph, The Smith's Yard, 1897

$WHISTLER signed, The Smith\'s Yard, 1897$

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Description:
Artist:	Whistler, James Abbot (1834 - 1903)
Title:	The Smith's Yard, 1897
Medium:	Original Lithograph
Image Size:	7.5 in x 6.2 in (19.1 x 15.8 cm)
Framed Size:	26 3/4 in x 24 7/8 in (67.9 cm x 63 cm)
Signed:	This work is marked by the blind stamp of The Studio, London along the lower central margin
Edition:	Pulled from the edition of 3000
Condition:	This work is in very good condition
Price : Item# 1938	$1,700 To speak directly with the Director, Alex Adelman, please call (510) 777-9970 / 1-800-805-7060.

Depicting a blacksmith shop in Lyme Regis, Dorset, Whistler offers a unique view of the daily labor of turn of the century England. Standing in the shadows, the two figures are briefly defined functioning as a tribute to the unnoticed manual laborers who were lost in the onslaught of the industrial revolution. Drawn in 1895, this work is pulled form the edition of 3,000 printed by Way and published by The Studio London in 1897. The blind stamp of the publisher appears along the lower margin and reads “The Studio London.” “In The Smith’s Yard one of Govier sons and a young apprentice pause from shoeing horses to gaze out toward the artist. With a few concise lines Whistler suggested the rustic character of the yard, framed on the left by a large rain barrel and on the right by a grinding wheel…It seems to have been one of Whistler’s favorite Lyme Regis lithographs, for he included it in the exhibition of his lithographs at the Fine Art Society that opened in mid-December 1895” (Stratis, 124) . Catalogue Raisonné & COA: It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work) : 1. The Art Institute of Chicago, The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler, Vol. 1, 1998, listed as entry 124. 2. Levy, Mervyn, Whistler Lithographs, 1975, listed as entry 126. About the Framing: This work is framed in a dramatic Spanish-style moulding. The ornate detailing of the frame draws attention to the artist’s delicate handling of the plate and subject matter. The framing is completed with white, linen-wrapped mats and a matching gold inner fillet set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.

Biography of James Abbot McNeill Whistler

1834 Lowell (Massachusetts) - 1903 London Whistler grew up in New England. In 1843 the family moved to Russia, where he received his first drawing lessons at the St. Petersburg Academy in 1845. On the death of his father in 1849 the family returned to America. In 1851 he became a cadet at the military college at West Point, but decided to follow art as a profession. in 1855 he went to Paris, entering the studio of Gleyre in 1856. Important for his artistic development was his meeting with Fantin-Latour and Courbet; other friends included Manet, Monet and Degas. On his rejection by the Salon in 1859 he left Paris for London. His work during this period showed the Japanese influence. In 1866 he visited Chile. Around 1870 his first "nocturnes" were produced, an exquisite series of Thames etchings, intended to capture the poetic mood of pictorial and musical harmony. This theme was to hold his attention for nearly a decade. From the 1870s he increasingly turned to painting portraits, which formed his major source of income until the 1800s. In 1878 he sued Ruskin for libel. Despite winning a moral victory, Whistler was driven into bankruptcy by the cost of the action. From 1886 to 1888 he was the president of the Society of British Artists. In 1892 the Goupil Grallery in London arranged a successful one-man exhibition of his work. Whistler's aesthetic approach found expression in the subtle effect of delicate colours and tone values. His portraits, landscapes and interiors exercise great charm. His manner of painting owes less to the analytical technique of Impressionism, but rather more to the colour impressionism developed in the 17th century.