Windows opposite Hotel, Bourges |  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (1943.3.8638) | |
| Number: | 397 | |
| Date: | 1888 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 100 x 67 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at lower right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 2 | |
| Catalogues: | K.401; M.400 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (2) | ||
KEYWORD
architecture, building, Renaissance architecture, window.
TITLE
Possible variations on the title are as follows:.
'The Windows opposite, Bourges (French Plates)' and 'Hotel Windows' (1888, Whistler). 3
'Windows opposite -' and 'Hotel Windows Brusseles' [sic] (1889, Whistler). 4
'Windows The. Opposite' and 'Hotel Windows The Brus' [sic] (1890/1891, Whistler). 5
'Old Windows, Brussels' (1903/1935, possibly Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) 6
'Windows opposite Hotel, Bourges' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 7
There are inevitably difficulties in disentangling the title and history of this etching from that of Windows, Bourges [398]. It is likely that it is Bourges rather than Brussels. Mansfield's title, 'Windows opposite Hotel, Bourges' is therefore the preferred title.
'The Windows opposite, Bourges (French Plates)' and 'Hotel Windows' (1888, Whistler). 3
'Windows opposite -' and 'Hotel Windows Brusseles' [sic] (1889, Whistler). 4
'Windows The. Opposite' and 'Hotel Windows The Brus' [sic] (1890/1891, Whistler). 5
'Old Windows, Brussels' (1903/1935, possibly Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) 6
'Windows opposite Hotel, Bourges' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 7
There are inevitably difficulties in disentangling the title and history of this etching from that of Windows, Bourges [398]. It is likely that it is Bourges rather than Brussels. Mansfield's title, 'Windows opposite Hotel, Bourges' is therefore the preferred title.
3: List, [August 1887/1888], GUW #13233.
4: List, 18 July 1889, GUW #13235.
5: List, [1890/1891], GUW #13236.
6: Envelope containing copper plate, Hunterian Art Gallery.
7: Mansfield 1909 (cat. no. 400).
DESCRIPTION
At right is a dormer window with small panes (4 high x 2 wide), slightly open, under a gently arched top, in a steeply sloping roof.. Under it are two windows barely indicated. At top left, presumably in the next house, is a 4 x 4 paned window, and below it a taller window (5 x 4 panes) with a fan window above it.
SITE
Bourges is a historic town in the Centre région, France, south-west of Tours. It is noted for its gothic cathedral of Saint-Etienne. Brussels was suggested as the site in two lists but there is no etching of this description and size among the known Brussels plates. It may be that Bourges and Brussels got muddled in the process of completing the studio inventory. 8 The subject is closely related to a similar subject, Windows, Bourges [398], and to Renaissance Window [417], both rather larger etchings.