UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

Market Place, Ostend was probably drawn in September 1887 when Whistler visited Ostend and Brussels, although stylistically it could have dated from earlier. The butterfly signature is consistent with a date of 1886 or 1887.

There is no record of a trip to Ostend in 1886 except for a newspaper, which stated that he had been working in Ostend during the summer of 1886:

'Ostend has been the scene of Mr. Whistler's summer tasks. He has etched and sketched the busy stir of life on the Digue and in the Kursaal. There are under a dozen etchings, besides the two nocturnes [Petite Bonne à la porte d'une auberge y367] in oil for the coming show in Suffolk-street. A limited number only of the plates will be issued from the Fulham studio press, for in this instance Mr. Whistler will be his own pressman.' 1

Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) wrote that Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936) 'thinks that this etching was done in September, 1896.' This was incorrect, and may have been derived from Mansfield's own suggestion that the image represented Calais. 2

Etchings of Ostend include Fish Women, Ostend 349, Fishing Quay, Ostend 351, The Canal, Ostend 352 and The Beach, Ostend 353.