- Title
- Upright Venice
- Date Made
- 1879-1880
- Medium
- Etching and drypoint
- Dimensions
- Image and sheet: 9 15/16 x 7 in. (25.24 x 17.78 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.84.279.37
- Collecting Area
- Prints and Drawings
- Curatorial Notes
From the exhibition Whistler and Venice
January 29-May 28, 2003
Whistler used plate tone and antique paper to achieve extraordinary effects of light and atmosphere in his etchings. Plate tone is achieved by wiping and distributing the ink so that a light film remains on chosen areas of the plate, creating the “tone” across the paper when printed. The additional luminosity of Whistler’s etchings comes from his use of discarded eighteenth-century Dutch papers, which were characterized by a golden tint. Whistler devised a technique of heating the copper plate to intensify the golden cast of the aged paper and to produce its distinctive, silky sheen.
- Selected Bibliography
- Fine, Ruth E. Drawing Near: Whistler Etchings from the Zelman Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984.
