PRINTS
Whistler, James McNeill
U.S. (1834 - 1903)
The Traghetto #2
1879 - 1880
Etching and drypoint on laid paper
9 3/8 x 12 in. (24 x 30.5 cm) sheet size; 9 3/8 x 12 in. (24 x 30.5 cm) plate mark size
Stimson Collection, gift of Dorothy Stimson Bullitt
FA 77.178

It was in Venice where Whistler claimed to have discovered his "secret of drawing." He possibly developed his method directly from the study of Oriental art. It involved starting the drawing at the point of chief interest and working outward from it. One could leave off at any point and still have a complete picture. By Victorian standards Whistler left off exceedingly early. In the Traghetto #2 the design of the doorway and the area around it holds the center of the print while the edges fade away in a hazy sketchiness of lines. --Label copy for James McNeill Whistler: A Dreamer Apart, Reed Gallery, March 27 - June 15, 1990.