Artwork
Hotel de Ville, Loches
Hotel de Ville, Loches is an ink print by the Impressionist artist James McNeill Whistler. It dates from 1888 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:on plate: (butterfly); on tab: (butterfly) imp; on verso by Whistler, lower left: No 4 / 1st. Proof' (the 'st' superscript); by later hands, lower left on verso: MK 30692; lower center on verso: 384
About this work
Overview
Hotel de Ville, Loches is an 1888 etching and drypoint print created by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, depicting the town hall of Loches, France, in meticulous detail on brown-toned, laid paper.
Subject & Meaning
The print focuses on the architectural centerpiece of Loches' town hall, surrounded by everyday town life, emphasizing visual aesthetics over narrative depth, characteristic of the 'art for art's sake' movement.
Technique & Style
Whistler employed delicate linework and subtle tonal contrasts, achieved through etching and drypoint techniques on metal plates, to capture the intricate textures of the building, its surroundings, and the play of light and shadow.
History & Provenance
Created in 1888 by American expatriate James Abbott McNeill Whistler, the work reflects his late 19th-century European artistic pursuits, with provenance details not specified in available information.
Context
Part of Whistler's body of work emphasizing aestheticism, Hotel de Ville, Loches sits within the broader context of late 19th-century printmaking innovations and the 'art for art's sake' philosophical underpinnings.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834 – July 17, 1903) 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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