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Master Impressions: James McNeill Whistler

Presented by University of Arizona - Museum of Art at University of Arizona - Museum of Art

July 31-October 18, 2009

The four etchings presented in this exhibit highlight the visionary skill and technical mastery of the painter and printmaker James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). While an American by birth, Whistler spent the majority of his life and career in Europe -- primarily, in England. Whistler first learned to etch in 1854 while employed by the Drawing Division of the U.S. Coast Survey Office, which produced detailed maps of the U.S. coastline. The artist soon started to etch on plates directly from nature, and he typically completed the proofing and printing of the etchings himself. While his etchings remained modest in size, Whistler's innovation in the medium rendered him one of the most important etchers in the Western tradition. He produced more than 450 etchings in an oeuvre that includes paintings, watercolors, pastels, drawings and lithographs. The first Whistler etching to enter the University of Arizona - Museum of Art collections was "Annie," a gift from C. Leonard Pfeiffer in 1946. One of the artist's earliest etchings, "Annie" (1857-8) portrays Whistler's nine-year-old niece, Annie Haden.