PRINTS
Whistler, James McNeill
U.S. (1834 - 1903)
The Balcony
1879 - 1880
Etching and drypoint on laid paper
11 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (29.5 x 19.8 cm) plate mark size; 14 x 9 3/8 in. (35.6 x 23.8 cm) sheet size
Stimson Collection, gift of Dorothy Stimson Bullitt
FA 77.173

The Balcony is one of the typical facades developed by Whistler. It is parallel to the picture plane, vignetted, and with the greatest amount of detail around the doorway. There are numerous figures including several to the right of the building, but none are drawn clearly. For the watery foreground in this plate, Whistler relied on a combination of drypoint line and ink film. He had very definite ideas about the 'finish' of a work. He believed that when an artist knows his subject, he will know not only what to describe, but what to omit and he said: 'skill in leaving out is in all things a great part of knowledge and wisdom. All pictures are finished if the intention of the master be fully conveyed. -- Label copy for James McNeill Whistler: A Dreamer Apart, Reed Gallery, March 27 - June 15, 1990.