1887
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
York Street, Westminster is a 1887 ink by James McNeill Whistler, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This etching shows a quiet London street corner with gas lamps flickering. Dark buildings lean in close, their windows dark. A lone figure walks past the corner pub, coat pulled tight. Whistler loved these London scenes. He etched them on copper plates, scratching lines until the ink held just the right shadows. The drypoint method lets him scratch directly onto the plate, so the lines stay soft-edged. The grainy texture makes the scene feel like a half-remembered dream. Look for more Whistler, James McNeill.
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
