1877
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Free Trade Wharf is a 1877 ink by James McNeill Whistler, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a busy waterfront with ships docked along the left side. Buildings line the shore, some leaning or half-collapsed, while a small boat floats near the bottom. The artist used quick, sketchy lines to draw the scene, leaving lots of empty space between details. The rough, textured look comes from the way the artist scratched into the metal plate before printing—this is called drypoint. The ships and buildings aren’t perfectly smooth; they feel hurried, like a quick study. Next, check out etching to see how artists like this use ink and acid to create prints.
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.
See the richer artist page
