?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 70,000 - $ 100,000
JAMES A. M. WHISTLER Group of 6 etchings from the Jubilee or Naval Review Set.
Each 1887. The largest 140x220 mm; 5 1/2x8 5/8 inches; the smallest 130x95 mm; 5 1/8x3 3/4 inches. Each signed with the butterfly and inscribed "imp" in pencil on the tab. Superb impressions of these extremely scarce etchings, many with selective wiping and subtle tonal nuances.
Kennedy 317/MacDonald 312 in the first state (of 2), before the drypoint lines on the horizon, with selective wiping in the foreground water and along the left side of the image; Kennedy 318/MacDonald 306 in the second state (of 2), with the very light drypoint lines on the left-most tall mast, with selective wiping in the foreground and darker plate edges; Kennedy 319/MacDonald 307 in the first state (of 2), before the horizontal drypoint lines on the horizon and on the hull of the large white ship, with considerable selective wiping showing in the foreground water; Kennedy 320/MacDonald 303 in the first state before cancellation, with significant selective wiping in the foreground; Kennedy 324/MacDonald 304 in the first state (of 2), before the additional light drypoint work on the two flags lower center, with selective wiping in the foreground; Kennedy 327/MacDonald 311 in the second state (of 2), with the fine drypoint lines on the horizon and still with the scattered foul-biting flecks in the center of the composition, with selective wiping in the foreground.
As President of the Society of British Artists, Whistler was invited to attend the Naval Review celebrating the 50th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Victoria. The Jubilee celebration of the Naval Review was held at Spithead, between the entrance to Portsmouth harbor and the Isle of Wight, on July 23, 1887.
Whistler made 12 etchings of the Naval review on July 23rd. These were not published but were either sold or given by the artist as a set.
We have not found a complete set of the 12 etchings at auction and have found no more than 3 impressions of each subject (and in many cases only one other impression of each subject) at auction in the past 25 years. Kennedy 317, 318, 219, 320, 324 and 327; MacDonald 303, 304, 306, 307, 311 and 312.
