May 11, 2023 - Sale 2636

Sale 2636 - Lot 231

Price Realized: $ 8,125
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 7,000 - $ 10,000
JAMES A. M. WHISTLER
The Thames.

Lithotint with scraping on Chine appliqué, 1896. 267x196 mm; 10 1/2x7 3/4 inches, full margins. Third state (of 3). Edition of only 12 in this state, from a total edition of approximately 30 (in all 3 states). Printed by Henry Bray at T. R. Way, London. A brilliant, luminous impression, with all the subtle tonal variations distinct.

This is among Whistler's (1834-1903) most technically complicated lithographs, created over several months in early 1896 during which Whistler and his dying wife, Beatrix, occupied upper floor rooms at the Savoy Hotel overlooking the Thames River, London. Whistler's extraordinary dedication to this image, was recognized by his printer, T. R. Way, who noted that, "He knew what he wanted to get, and nothing short of it would satisfy him, even if the work had to be done over and over again; no trouble was too great for him to take" (Spink, p. 454). Way 125; Levy 180; Spink 161.