UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

Whistler began Nocturne in pure etching, and then added and rejected various drypoint details through the course of nine states, and allowed the remaining drypoint to wear away during printing of the final state. In printing the plate as it progressed, he first used plate tone, wiped horizontally, to indicate water and darkening sky. In the final state, he left more ink on the plate surface. Smooth, dark ink tones produced an atmospheric evening or nocturnal effect, as in the following example.

Alternatively, adding diagonal or radiating wiping strokes produced dramatic sunset effects, as in the impression below:

Plate tone on this impression of Nocturne, appears to have been manipulated by hand, as the variation in tone at top and bottom reflect the pattern of fingertips pulled through the ink, away from the central subject. 7

Some sixty impressions are known. Whistler kept proofs of the third state, which he annotated '1st state - 1st proof - Venice 1879' (), and of the fourth state (). They are printed in black ink, with no surface tone. There were few impressions of the early states: a first and a third state were printed in black ink on ivory laid paper with a VAN GELDER watermark (, ); while the second, also in black, was on an off-white, possibly Asian, paper (). A fourth state was in brown ink on thick ivory laid paper (); and a fifth, again in black ink, on ivory laid paper ().

Some new states reflected the need to keep the copper plate in a good condition, and mark minor changes in emphasis. In the fifth state Whistler made a number of changes to the composition of Nocturne, drawing in the gondolas that give it a sense of space and scale. Otherwise in each state he made delicate adjustments in drypoint. Thus there were substantial editions of the principal states, but there were also smaller printings of intermediary states. 8

Letters, lists, invoices and receipts document Whistler's edition of the twelve etchings of the 'First Venice Set' for the Fine Art Society. The F.A.S. recorded that Whistler delivered fourteen impressions of Nocturne on 16 February, six on 6 April, and four on 25 August 1881; single impressions on 24 January 1882, and on 25 January, 21 March, 7 and 9 April 1883; ten on 13 July 1883; one on 6 March 1884; three on 6 February, three on 20 July and ten on 29 July 1885; six on 13 January and nine on 25 June 1887; six on 11 April and twenty on 2 May 1889. 9

A fairly large printing of the sixth state perhaps represented his first delivery to the F.A.S. on 16 February 1881, although it is hard to be certain. They were printed in dark brown ink on, for instance, cream Japan, buff laid and ivory wove paper (, , ); and in black ink on a variety of papers including off-white and ivory laid paper (, ), ivory 'antique' (pre-1800) laid (), off-white and pale cream Japan, and cream Asian wove paper (, , ).

As Whistler was printing the plate for the F.A.S. he made notations in a private code in the margins or on the verso of impressions that were to be selected for sale or exhibition, or as a record of numbers printed, or the date of printing. For instance several sixth states - all probably dating from 1881 - have notations; these include

'o / w.' beside the pencil butterfly (),

'II.(x)' in the lower right margin (),

'o' by the butterfly and 'v7. x/12' in the right margin ().

In addition one late impression of the final state has the notation: 'xx / 7' in the left margin (). Other notations may have been rubbed out or cut off, and as yet there is insufficient data to break the code.

Few impressions of the seventh and eight states exist - perhaps these were the small deliveries recorded in 1882; one was printed in dark brown ink on ivory laid paper () and another on cream 'antique' laid paper with 'WW' watermark ().

The main print-run was in the ninth state. They were printed in dark brown ink on cream laid paper with the water- or counter-mark 'IV' (); ivory (, ) and cream laid paper (, ); 'antique' laid (, ) and cream 'modern' laid paper (). Some are in dark brown or black ink on ivory laid with a Strasbourg Lily watermark (, ), others on paper watermarked with initials (, ), and a posthorn (). Impressions are also found in black ink on Japanese paper (, ), ivory laid () and off-white laid paper with a 'FELLOWS / 1804' watermark (). Some of these later impressions must date from the final printing in 1889.

Early impressions, and many on fragile Asian papers, were usually printed leaving a margin. However, by 1881, from the sixth state on (as in the impression reproduced above), most impressions were trimmed to the platemark and signed on a tab with Whistler's butterfly and 'imp.', to show that he had printed them or that they were printed under his supervision. However, there are some variations, since some early states were signed much later, presumably when they were delivered. These include a sixth state, signed around 1889/1890 (). One seventh state was signed with a large butterfly and this was later replaced with a smaller one (), and some final (ninth) states were signed in the early 1880s () but most around 1886 ().

On 26 April 1889 the Fine Art Society received the cancelled plate. 10 Cancelled impressions were printed in dark brown ink on light-weight 'antique' laid paper () and cream Japanese paper (), with light surface tone carefully wiped to show that the plate was still in fairly good condition.