San Giorgio |  Freer Gallery of Art (1887.8) | |
| Number: | 214 | |
| Date: | 1879/1880 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 211 x 308 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at lower left (5) | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Second Venice Set', 1886 | |
| No. of States: | 5 | |
| Known impressions: | 38 | |
| Catalogues: | K.201; M.198; W.167 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (38) | ||
KEYWORD
belltower, boat, canal, church, gondola, lagoon, man, panorama, port, quay, sailors, sailing ship, sea, shipping, steamboat.
TITLE
Only one main title is known, with one variation, as in the following examples:
'San Giorgio' (1882, Whistler). 1
'San Giorgio' (1883, FAS). 2
'San Giorgio' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 3
'Woodbarges' (1908, Otto Henry Bacher (1856-1909)). 4
Bacher's desriptive title is interesting in that he knew the site, but clearly 'San Giorgio' was Whistler's original title and was accepted by later cataloguers.
'San Giorgio' (1882, Whistler). 1
'San Giorgio' (1883, FAS). 2
'San Giorgio' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 3
'Woodbarges' (1908, Otto Henry Bacher (1856-1909)). 4
Bacher's desriptive title is interesting in that he knew the site, but clearly 'San Giorgio' was Whistler's original title and was accepted by later cataloguers.
1: Whistler to T. McLean, 28 August 1882, GUW #13643.
2: London FAS 1883 (cat. no. 10).
3: Wedmore 1886 A[more] (cat. no. 167).
4: Bacher 1908[more], pp. 198-199.
DESCRIPTION
In the foreground at right is a quayside with two boats moored to a cluster of posts, and a man in a small boat beside them. Astern there is another man in a boat; an empty boat lies alongside the quay in front. In the lagoon beyond are numerous two-masted sailing boats. In the distance is a panoramic view of Venice. Behind a long white steamer rise the façade, dome and campanile of the church of San Giorgio.
SITE
According to Otto Henry Bacher (1856-1909), 'The etching, Wood
Barges, was made on the Giudecca Canal,
looking toward the San Giorgio, where
these boats were always moored, waiting
for prospective purchasers.' 5 It shows the church and island of San Giorgio, Venice, Italy. 6 This view, drawn accurately on the copper plate, is reversed, as usual, in the print.