Etching and drypoint printed in dark brownish black on antique, cream laid paper, 1879-80. 298x202 mm; 11 3/4x8 inches. MacDonald's twelfth state (of 12), with the butterfly in the plate, lower left. Edition of approximately only 30. Signed with the butterfly and inscribed "imp." in pencil on the tab, lower left. Counter-signed with the butterfly and inscribed "imp" in pencil, lower right verso. Arms of Amsterdam watermark. From Twenty-Six Etchings. A brilliant, luminous and early impression of this extremely scarce, important etching, with selective wiping and with all the details distinct.
According to MacDonald, "While Whistler used plate-tone (ink left on the unetched surface of the copper plate) liberally in printing of many his Venice plates, Nocturne: Palaces and Nocturne, 1879-80, represent the most complete synthesis of line and tone among his intaglio prints. With the exception of the first known proof of Nocturne: Palaces (now in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.), every located impression is richly-inked and carefully wiped. The underlying lines changed relatively little during the course of the twelve states, mostly amounting to increased or renewed shading, and Whistler used the incised lines as a framework for his painterly method of inking and wiping, making each impression unique in its combination of ink color, paper color and manipulated platetone."
We have found only 18 other impressions at auction in the past 30 years. Kennedy 202; Glasgow 200.
