The Beach, Ostend |  Hunterian Art Gallery (46978) | |
| Number: | 353 | |
| Date: | 1887 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 82 x 185 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at left | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 4 | |
| Catalogues: | K.354; M.347 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (4) | ||
The Beach, Ostend probably dates from 1887, but could date from the previous year. The butterfly signature is consistent with these dates. It is the same size as two other etchings, Fleur-de-lis Passage [360] and The Orator, Buffalo Bill [293], and close to Petite Rue des Bouchers [342], all dating from 1887. Furthermore it is probably the etching sold as 'Beach' in November 1887. 1
1: Whistler to T. McLean, 17 November 1887, GUW #13016.
There is no record of a trip to Ostend in 1886 except for one newspaper, which stated that Whistler had been working in Ostend during the summer of 1886:
'Ostend has been the scene of Mr Whistler's summer tasks. He has
etched and sketched the busy stir of life on the Digue and in the
Kursaal. There are under a dozen etchings, besides the two nocturnes [Petite Bonne à la porte d'une auberge [y367]] in
oil for the coming show in Suffolk-street. A limited number only of
the plates will be issued from the Fulham studio press, for in this
instance Mr. Whistler will be his own pressman.'
2
2: Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle, 29 October 1886.