Etchings Institutions search term: dowdeswell
Piccadilly |  Hunterian Art Gallery (46893) | |
| Number: | 256 | |
| Date: | 1886 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 111 x 70 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 11 | |
| Catalogues: | K.256; M.252; W.208 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (11) | ||
KEYWORD
city, people, street, streetscape.
TITLE
There are small variations in the title, but all mention the site, Piccadilly:
'Piccadilly' (1887, Whistler). 2
'A Fragment of Piccadilly ' (1887/1888, Whistler). 3
'A Fragment of Piccadilly' (1899, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 4
Wedmore's title is unusual, and it is based on the fact that only a part of the street scene was completed. However, Whistler first referred to it as 'Piccadilly' and this is the preferred title.
'Piccadilly' (1887, Whistler). 2
'A Fragment of Piccadilly ' (1887/1888, Whistler). 3
'A Fragment of Piccadilly' (1899, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 4
Wedmore's title is unusual, and it is based on the fact that only a part of the street scene was completed. However, Whistler first referred to it as 'Piccadilly' and this is the preferred title.
2: To Dowdeswell, 27 July 1887, GUW #08677.
3: List, [August 1887/1888], GUW #13233.
4: Wedmore 1899 (cat. no. 208).
DESCRIPTION
A broad street appears in the top half of the plate, with a row of three- and four-storey buildings at upper right. There are groups of figures on the pavements. The nearest figure at right is a man wearing a top hat and dark coat.
SITE
Piccadilly, London, UK. Whistler enjoyed the bustle of the fashionable street. When temporarily working in Venice he wrote, 'I am bored to death after a certain time away from Piccadilly! - I pine for Pall Mall and I long for a hansom! - ' 5
5: To H. E. Whistler, [October/November 1879], GUW #06686.
DISCUSSION