Petite Rue au Beurre, Brussels |  Art Institute of Chicago (1917.582) | |
| Number: | 341 | |
| Date: | 1887 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 135 x 99 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 3 | |
| Catalogues: | K.364; M.363 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (3) | ||
TECHNIQUE
The plate shows signs of revisions, with faint outlines of figures and details on the building façades that represent earlier ideas -- either lightly etched or etched and then removed. There are also many scattered dots of foul biting. The composition was drawn with care, using long, broken strokes for the main architectural details, shorter lines for details on the figures, shop-windows and roofs, and patches of vertical and diagonal shading emphasizing the structure of the housefront.
PRINTING
Only a few impressions were printed. Three impressions of Petite Rue au Beurre, Brussels have been located. One was printed in brown ink with pale tone on ivory laid paper taken from a book; Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) thought this was the first impression (
). Another is also in brown with light tone on ivory laid paper (). All are trimmed to the platemark and signed on the tab with a butterfly and 'imp.' to show that Whistler printed them.
). Another is also in brown with light tone on ivory laid paper (). All are trimmed to the platemark and signed on the tab with a butterfly and 'imp.' to show that Whistler printed them.