UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

anvil, blacksmith, forge, interior, man standing, worker.

The only variations on the title are as follows:


'The Smithy' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 1 'Smithy' (1887/1888, Whistler). 2
'The Smithy' (1889, Whistler). 3


'The Smithy' is the generally accepted title.

Whistler described it as: ' "Smithy" - very rich interior - smith filing at window - beautiful work in roof and background -' 4

The interior of a blacksmith's shop, with a large window at the left, looking onto a house with a tiled roof. In front of the window a man stands bending over a work-bench. A shelf full of miscellaneous small objects and bottles runs across the window, supported on thin wooden struts. Further to left is a small window with four panes, and in the high-peaked roof, above the big window, is a skylight, partly veiled by a curtain, which casts a beam of light diagonally across the workshop. A medley of cupboards (just to right of the workbench), trestles, tools, sacks, pieces of iron, cloth and wood, fill the room. At the right two men are bending over an anvil, and behind them, at far right, is a man standing in front of the forge. The chimney and pipes and timber supports for the forge and buildings form a complicated network at upper right. In the foreground at left is a bucket and a small anvil, and, at right, two blacksmith's hammers.

Not known. The form of the tiles on the roof - which look like curved terra-cotta tiles - suggest that this might have been done in Venice. 5 Alternatively it could have been done in France on Whistler's return from Venice.

Forges, furnaces and smiths are a recurrent subject in Whistler's work, providing dramatic lighting and complex figure compositions. These include several etchings: The Forge [86], Nocturne: Furnace [208], Murano - Glass Furnace [205], Wheelwright [240] and Flaming Forge [490].

The subject is also seen in a lot of lithographs: The Tyresmith [c036], The Whitesmiths, Impasse des Carmélites [c092], The Forge, Passage du Dragon [c102], The Smith, Passage du Dragon [c103], The Master Smith [c120], The Sunny Smithy [c121], The Good Shoe [c122], Father and Son [c123], The Strong Arm [c125], The Blacksmith [c127] and The Brothers [c128].

There are also a few drawings, Study for 'The Little Forge' (K.147) [m0574], Sketch of 'The Whitesmiths, Impasse des Carmélites' [m1417], Sketches of 'The Forge: Passage du Dragon' and 'The Smith: Passage du Dragon' [m1450], r.: The Blacksmith's, Howth; v.: Horse in a stable [m1619], r.: The Forge; v.: Smiths, Ajaccio [m1679] and The Flaming Forge, Ajaccio [m1678]; and an oil, The Little Forge, Lyme Regis [y442].