1859
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Thames Police is a 1859 ink by James McNeill Whistler, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a busy river scene with ships docked along a crowded wharf. People are unloading cargo, and buildings line the shore, including a tall police station with "Thames Police" written on it. The lines are loose and sketchy, giving it a rough, hurried feel. The artist used a technique called drypoint to make the lines sharp and textured. This method lets you scratch directly into the metal plate, creating fine details and a grainy look. Next, look up etching, drypoint, aquatint to see how artists make prints like this.
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
