UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

It was published as 'The Fiddler' in 1871 as part of A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on The Thames and other Subjects (the 'Thames Set').

This is one of two subjects that are not related to the Thames but were published with the 'Thames Set'.

It was first exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1863. F.G. Stephens was horrified to find that it had been badly hung: 'in the dismal Octagon Room are placed some of the exquisite dry-point productions of Mr. Whistler, whose fame the Royal Academy ignores' he wrote, adding that J. Becquet, sculptor 'broad as a Rembrandt, is down on the floor'. 23

Subsequently it was shown in Whistler's one-man exhibition in London in 1874, and with the collection of James Anderson Rose (1819-1890) in Liverpool and elsewhere in the same year. 24

It was shown in exhibitions organised by private clubs: Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) lent a 'Trial Proof' to the Union League Club in New York in 1881 (). 25

Impressions also appeared in major public and international exhibitions. One was shown at the Glasgow International Exhibition, 1888, lent by Bernard Buchanan MacGeorge (1845?-1924). 26 Others were shown in Cincinnati (1875), Glasgow (1879) and Philadelphia (1879 and 1902) and Buffalo (1901). 27 Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) lent one to the exhibition organised by the Caxton Club at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1900 ( or ). 28 Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) lent an impression to the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, the 1902 Philadelphia show, and to the Whistler Memorial show in Boston in 1904. 29

Print dealer's shows in New York also featured 'Becquet'; H. Wunderlich & Co. in 1898 included an early impression that was bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) (). 30 Another impression was shown at Wunderlich's in 1903, and one by Frederick Keppel & Co. in 1902.

Finally impressions were shown in the Memorial Exhibitions after Whistler's death, including two shown at the Grolier Club in New York in 1904, one in the Boston Memorial in 1904 (as mentioned above), and one from the Royal Collection in London in 1905. 31

A cut down impression of the first state was among the first group of Whistler's etchings to be sold to a public collection. It was among 16 etchings sold for a total of £10.10.10 by Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) to South Kensington Museum on 1 January 1861 (). 32 Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought an early impression formerly owned by Haden and William Drake (1817-1890) from F. Keppel & Co. in 1892 (). Other Haden impressions were sold through H. Wunderlich & Co. to Freer in 1898 (, ). Freer bought a later impression from Keppel's in 1892, which had come from the sale of the collection of Joshua Hutchinson Hutchinson (ca 1829 - d.1891) () and another in 1898 (). The latter was inscribed by Becquet himself.

In April 1876 the collection of Philippe Burty (1830-1890) was exhibited by Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau (ca 1840- d.1892) in the print-shop of Thomas M. McLean (b. ca 1832) in Haymarket, London, prior to its auction. It included an early impression of J. Becquet, Sculptor (). 33 Wedmore's review specifically mentions this drypoint:

'Mr. Whistler, in some of the Thames-side etchings - abounding in M. Burty's collection - has reached a certain grim and every-day reality, which the imaginative artist [Mèryon] did not seek for first, since he made the ugliness of the Morgue surroundings visibly tragic, and the beams of the Pompe beautiful .... Mr Burty's cabinet is richer, undoubtedly in Whistlers than in Hadens, for not only is his collection large, but it abounds in splendid impressions of the rarest states of the plates; some are indeed unique, such as the Violin-cello Player (No. 925) ... But mere rarity is not to be much regarded. One had better enquire what it is that the artist has done best - in what has he reached satisfactory and accomplished expression?' 34

Public collections that acquired J. Becquet, Sculptor included South Kensington Museum (now the V&A), which bought a 'Thames Set' from Ellis & Green in 1871 (), and the British Museum in 1874 (). Constantine Alexander Ionides (1833-1900) bequeathed a set to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1901 (). The Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, bought a late impression from the Kunstsalon Ernst Arnold in Dresden in 1901 (). The Bibliothèque nationale de France bought one, probably from Keppel, in 1903 (); and 15 etchings including the portrait of Becquet were purchased by the Trustees of the Public Picture Gallery Fund for Birmingham City Art Gallery in 1904 ().

British collectors included James Guthrie Orchar (1825-1888) (); James Smith (1831-1923) (); and Guy John Fenton Knowles (1879-1959) (). At auction, an 'early proof on Japanese paper' from the collection of Arthur Thomas (dates unknown) was sold in 1873 to Colnaghi's for £2.17.0. 35 At the William Drake (1817-1890) sale in 1892 Keppel bought a 'trial impression, head only' for £1.4.0 (). 36 A year later, at Christie's, an impression originally owned by Frederick Richards Leyland (1832-1892) was sold on 24 February 1893 (lot 194) to the London print dealer Robert Dunthorne (b. ca 1851), and another, from the collection of T. E. Crawhall of Condercum, Newcastle-on-Tyne, was bought, again by Keppel, on 14 March 1893 (lot 114) for only £0.18.0.

In France, purchasers included Alfred Beurdeley (1847-1919) (); and probably the American print dealers Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904), buying about 1875 (, , ) and George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) (). Other early American collectors included Henry F. Sewall (1816-1896) (); Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916), by 1900 (, ); Harry Brisbane Dick (1855-1916) (); Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) (); Margaret Selkirk Watson Parker (1867-1936) (); and Albert Henry Wiggin (1868-1951) ().