Whistler's "Upright Venice"

Lot No: 33 James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Upright Venice (Kennedy 205) Etching, printed with tone in blackish-brown, on laid, signed with the butterfly monogramme and inscribed "imp" in pencil on a paper tab lower left, from "Twenty-Six Etchings," 1879/80, 256 x 180 mm (10 1/8 x 7 1/8 in) (SH) (unframed) Estimate: £3,000 - 5,000, €3,400 - 5,700, US $4,900 - 8,100

I have always admired the technical virtuosity of Whistler's etching "Upright Venice."  The transition from the immediate foreground seen from above to the distant background with Santa Maria della Salute is a real tour-de-force.  There is actually a small, blank area between the foreground and background, and this print can almost be thought of as two separate though spatially-related images.


Bonhams's catalogue is now online for the July 12 sale of Prints at their New Bond Street location.  The auction listing for "Upright Venice" can be found right here:  http://bonhams.com/eur/auction/18880/lot/33/


July 12, 2011 Update: Sold for £9,000 inclusive of Buyer's Premium. That's a very healthy price indeed!

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