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(1895) |
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"The Fair" (1895), lithograph on antique cream laid paper, 236x158mm; 9 1/4" x 6 1/2", full margins. Second state (of 2). A very good impression of a scarce print [Way 92; Levy 144; Spink 135]. Whistler's printmaking began prior to his decision to become an artist. He had studied drawing at West Point and worked as a topographical artist for the U.S. Coastal Survey in Washington D.C. It was during this period that Whistler acquired the technical proficiency for his lifelong specialization in graphic works. His earliest lithographic works (1852) were juvenile efforts, but in 1877, he took up lithography in earnest. The lithographs, which number approximately 170, are less well known than his etchings, despite his early role in the revival of interest in the medium at the end of the 19th century. Although Whistler made only 17 lithographs prior to his departure for Venice, they were serious experiments in which the artist explored the range of possibilities in the medium. Two, "Gaiety Stage Door" and "Victoria Club" are rapid sketches of street scenes made from Thomas Way's window. The two lithographs anticipated the informal observation of much of Whistler's work done in Venice and England after his return. Those two earlier compositions have a corresponding informality, an abbreviation of detail into a few random touches of the crayon that we see in Whistler's later works. "The Fair" portrays a night scene in Lyme Regis which demonstrates Whistler's economy of detail and informality of technique which had its beginnings nearly twenty years earlier. This Whistler lithograph is in a Roma "Eleganza" 23 1/4" x 29 3/4" classic gilded silver swan-back frame with a black outer edge. The matching antiqued half-round silver wood fillet echoes the frame. The outer camel linen, forest green middle and rag inner mats are acid and lignin free and protected with Acrylite-AR OP3 (UV) by CYRO ...... $3,500.00 |