Drury Lane

James McNeill Whistler

[1880–81] · Etching, printed in brownish-black ink on cream laid paper; only state (Glasgow) · Drawings and Prints

When Whistler returned to London from Venice, he explored the narrow streets around Covent Garden and created this image of a picturesque corner shop glimpsed through a dark passageway, with foreground street enlivened by children. Drury Lane at this time was a poor area filled with tumbledown buildings and also the center of the city's theater district.The subtle spatial layering recalls effects developed by the artist in Italy and this print was included in A Set of Twenty-Six Etchings (known as the "Second Venice Set"), published by Dowdeswell and Thbaudeau in 1886.

Artist

James McNeill Whistler

Date

[1880–81]

Medium

Etching, printed in brownish-black ink on cream laid paper; only state (Glasgow)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917