James Abbott McNeill Whistler: The Thames Set: A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and other Subjects with Auction Price Histories

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism

James Abbott McNeill Whistler: The Thames Set: A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and other Subjects with Auction Price Histories Details

James A.M. Whistler was one of the greatest American artists of the second half of the 19th century. Although born in America and having attended West Point, almost all his adult life was spent in England. After studying in Paris, Whistler moved to London and settled on the grimy and dangerous waterfront of the Thames River, where he did a series of etchings. It took twelve years for the Thames Set to be finally published in its entirety . Whistler started as a realist seeking to portray the poor and working class, in the tradition of Courbet, the great French painter of peasants, and slowly transitioned into what he called "art for arts sake" with all the sensibilities of Impressionism. This transformation is apparent in the Set and you can see the changes in his style over time.I have added his most famous Thames etching "Billingsgate" to this book as well as two of his later paintings of "Noctures" which reflect his final conversion to impressionism. The book contains a brief biography, the history of the publication of the Thames Set, information on the Thames Set and then an image and description of each of the sixteen etchings, as well as Billingsgate and the two paintings.The purchasers of my prior books were primarily gallery owners, collectors and dealers and all found the auction sales price histories of great value. I have included auction sales price histories of each of the etchings. For the reader, it gives an indication of which etchings are valued and which are not. It also gives the reader a sense of the ebb and flow of the popularity of these etchings. There are great disparities in value over time and over the individual etching.Some of the etchings are extremely well known and are shown during college classes in art history, which is how I became aware of them. Others have faded into obscurity. Whistler's famous painting of his mother, known commonly as "Whistler's Mother", contains one of the etchings in the Thames Set, hanging on the wall behind his mother.My prior books have been found helpful in making purchases and in organizing collection. I can only hope that this new book is also found useful

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