1868
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
A Sketch of the Embankment is a 1868 ink by James McNeill Whistler, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a row of people standing along a fence or railing, looking out at a river or waterfront. Behind them, a line of buildings and trees stretches across the top of the image. The lines are loose and quick, like a first draft. The artist used a technique that lets ink sit in scratched lines, making the brown marks pop against the pale paper. It’s not polished—just raw, fast notes. Want to see more like this? Try looking up etching.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom.
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