Between 1854 and 1901 James Abbott McNeill Whistler produced over 450 etchings. His subjects ranged from friends and lovers to the streets of London and Paris, from the canals of Venice to the river Thames.
Whistler's aesthetic vision and unique execution further established etching as a fine arts medium. Each new work was an artistic advancement over its predeccessor and Whistler?s public waited eagerly to see what creative direction this artistic genius and man of letters would take next.
"The artist stands in no relation to the moment at which he occurs. He is no more a product of his time than is a scientific truth newly asserted. The assertion requires man to make it but the truth itself exists independently". James McNeill Whistler, The 10 O'Clock Lectures, 1885.