ID: 700009054 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700009054	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

The Doorway (etching (print); James McNeill Whistler; 1879/1880; Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, Unit...; P.2-2008)

Note: Etched on one of the largest 'Hughes & Kimber' plates that Whistler took with him from London to Venice, this view of the Palazzo Gussoni was drawn from a boat on the Rio de la Fava, east of the Rialto. A chair-repairer's stock of chairs hangs above the interior. In successive states the artist changed the figure leaning over the water. In this rich impression of the penultimate state, he used inks of two different consistencies and colours to distinguish pictorial elements: a crisper, stiffer black ink for the architectural details, and a softer brown ink for the dimly-lit interior and the water. Apart from a few etched marks and striations made with a spiked roulette, the reflection in the canal is achieved entirely by Whistler manipulating the ink on the surface of the plate at the printing stage, making each impression unique. Whistler's printing was influenced by contemporary interest in the 'monotype' process, which involved an artist brushing ink directly onto a blank printing plate.

Titles:

The Doorway (preferred,C,U,English-P,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

etching (print) [300041365] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>, prints (visual works), <prints by process or technique>, <prints by process: transfer method>, intaglio prints)

Classifications:

prints (preferred)

Creation Date: 1879/1880

Creator Display:

James McNeill Whistler [preferred]

printmaker Whistler, James McNeill (American painter, printmaker, 1834-1903, active in England and France) [500012432]

Locations:

Current: Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom) [500219279] University of Cambridge, Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: P.2-2008

Credit Line: Bought with the help of the Art Fund and the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund 2008

Display Materials: Etching, roulette and drypoint printed on 'antique' laid paper trimmed by the artist

	antique paper [300265569]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>, paper (fiber product), <paper by form>)

	etching (printing process) [300053241]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <image-making processes and techniques>, <printing and printing processes and techniques>, printing processes, intaglio printing processes)

	drypoint (printing process) [300053228]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <image-making processes and techniques>, <printing and printing processes and techniques>, printing processes, intaglio printing processes, engraving (printing process))

	roulettes (engraving tools) [300022774]
	.......(Objects Facet, Furnishings and Equipment (hierarchy name), Tools and Equipment (hierarchy name), equipment, <equipment by process>, image-making equipment, <equipment for printing and printmaking>, printing surface preparation equipment, printing surface preparation tools)

Dimensions: unavailable

General Subject:

architecture (preferred)

human figures

Specific Subjects:

	doorway [300002767]
	.....(Objects Facet, Components (hierarchy name), components (objects parts), <components by specific context>, architectural elements, <openings and opening components>, openings (architectural elements), <openings by form>, <doorways and doorway components>) (AAT)

	Palazzo Gussoni [700009055]
	.....(Palazzo Gussoni [700009055], Built Works by class: residential structures [700009562], Built Works [700000001]) (CONA)

	Venice [7018159]
	.....(Venezia province (province), Veneto (region (administrative division)), Italy (nation), Europe (continent), World (facet)) (TGN)

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

..... Conceptual Works

.......... Conceptual Works by class: for movable works

............... First Venice Set

.................... The Doorway

Sources and Contributors:
The Doorway	........ [VP]
	........ Fitzwilliam Museum [online] (2000-)

Subject: ....... [VP]

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Fitzwilliam Museum [online] (2000-)