Etchings Institutions search term: colby
Little Market Place, Tours |  Art Institute of Chicago (1934.586) | |
| Number: | 389 | |
| Date: | 1888 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 128 x 178 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 5 | |
| Catalogues: | K.375; M.375 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (5) | ||
KEYWORD
dog, courtyard, hotel, market, people, shop, square, stall, town.
TITLE
There are only minor variations in grammar and punctuation in the title, as follows:
'Little Market place Tours' (1887/1888, Whistler). 1
'Little Market Place - Tours' (1889, Whistler). 2
'Little Market Place' (1890/1892, Beatrice Whistler (1857-1896)). 3
'Little Market-Place, Tours' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 4
'Little Market Place, Tours' is the preferred title, and is based on Whistler's original title.
'Little Market place Tours' (1887/1888, Whistler). 1
'Little Market Place - Tours' (1889, Whistler). 2
'Little Market Place' (1890/1892, Beatrice Whistler (1857-1896)). 3
'Little Market-Place, Tours' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 4
'Little Market Place, Tours' is the preferred title, and is based on Whistler's original title.
1: List, [1887/1888], GUW #13233.
2: Whistler to E.G. Brown, 27 March 1889, GUW #13000.
3: List, [1890/1892], GUW #12715.
4: Mansfield 1909 (cat. no. 375).
DESCRIPTION
A cobbled market place, with booths under awnings on either side and three-storey houses at the left, with a street running across the end. On the far side of the street, from left to right, there is a three-storey house, a wide single-storey entrance to a courtyard under a large sign reading 'HOTEL'; a tall, two-storey high square-topped entrance to the same courtyard, with a plaque over it reading 'HALLES CENTRALES / RAIMOND [?] FILS'; and a two-storey symmetrical house with windows each side of the door, and windows with balconies each side of a plaque or signboard on the first floor. There are some people in the square and round the booths, and a dog in the foreground, at the left.
SITE
The 'Halles Centrales' (Central Market) in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France, was a large covered market in the Places des Halles, with stalls surrounding it.
Whistler recorded two etchings of the market, 'The Market Place Tours' and 'Little Market place Tours'. 5
The Market Place, Tours
[388] shows a very different view, and is obviously not the same place.
5: List, [August 1887/1888], GUW #13233.
DISCUSSION
During his honeymoon in 1888, Whistler etched several market scenes, small (The Market Place, Tours
[388], Market Women: Turkeys
[424], Booth, Market Place, Loches
[425], Market Women, Loches
[423]), medium sized (Little Market Place, Tours
[389]) and large (Hôtel de Ville, Loches
[412]). He etched 'large' and 'small' market scenes in Loches and Tours. In 1890/1892 Whistler's wife (who was present on his honeymoon!) listed several similar subjects among his etchings in a comprehensive survey of the studio, including:
'Market women Loches, 1888
Market Place (Little). Tours. 1888
Market Place. The. Tours. 1888 ...
Market place (The - Large - ) Loches 1888' 6
Market Place (Little). Tours. 1888
Market Place. The. Tours. 1888 ...
Market place (The - Large - ) Loches 1888' 6
6: List, [1890/1892], GUW #12715.