PRINTS
Whistler, James McNeill
U.S. (1834 - 1903)
The Pool
1859
Etching on Japan tissue paper
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. (14 x 21 cm) plate mark size; 7 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. (18.1 x 23.5 cm) sheet size
Stimson Collection, gift of Dorothy Stimson Bullitt
FA 77.177

This 'repoussoir' technique, called the 'theory of foregrounds' by Whistler, places a figure in the extreme foreground, the contrast of which increases the illusion of depth. The middle ground is unworked and reads as water. Areas etched in great detail alternate with areas that read as blank space. The eye is led from one patterned zone to the next. -- Label copy for James McNeill Whistler: A Dreamer Apart, Reed Gallery, March 27 - June 15, 1990.