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Château Touraine

Impression: Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
(1917.585)
Number: 410
Date: 1888
Medium: etching
Size: 135 x 99 mm
Signed: butterfly at lower centre
Inscribed: no
Set/Publication: no
No. of States: 1
Known impressions: 1
Catalogues: K.379; M.379
Impressions taken from this plate  (1)

TECHNIQUE

Whistler sketched the roof and lantern of the tower, and then the whole building seen in the etching, on the verso of a draft letter. 10 The lines of the sketch are sharp and clear, whereas the etching plate was unevenly bitten. The problems with biting particularly affected the lines just above the centre of the image, which are faint and difficult to read. It is not surprising that so few impressions of Château, Touraine were printed (see Printing, below).

10: Studies of heads and of the Château at Chenonceau m1182.

PRINTING

Only two impressions of Château, Touraine have been recorded. On 18 July 1889 Whistler recorded that he had one impression in stock. 11 Only one impression has been located, and that was inscribed '1st Proof' by the artist (). It is printed in dark brown ink on ivory laid paper, and appears to be only partially bitten, with a large area in the top half of the plate being very faint. The sole other impression, recorded and reproduced by Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932), appears to have been damaged, with paper loss at upper right (). 12 Both were trimmed to the platemark and signed on a tab with the butterfly and 'imp.' to show that Whistler had printed them.

11: GUW #13235.

12: Kennedy 1910[more] (cat. no. 379).