17 / 200
331 JAMES A. M.WHISTLER
Traghetto
.
Etching printed in dark, brownish black on antique, cream laid paper, 1880. 214x303 mm;
8
1
/
2
x12 inches, small to narrow margins. MacDonald’s third state (of 4), before the further
work on the window at the left and with the butterfly lower left distinct. Ex-collection
Harris G.Whittemore (Lugt 1384a, verso; according to Lugt,Whittemore had an unrivaled
collection of Rembrandt and Whistler etchings. The majority of Whittemore’s Whistler
etchings were purchased
en masse
from the Howard Mansfield collection in 1919). A
superb, proof-like, early impression of this exceedingly scarce etching.
According to MacDonald, “Less than ten impressions of the first version of
Traghetto
are
known. All have the appearance of working proofs. They were all printed in black ink,
and all printed inVenice.”Whistler’s
TheTraghetto, No. 2
, the second version of this subject,
appeared in
Twelve Etchings
, his first set of Venetian etchings, published in 1880.
We have found only one other impression of this etching at auction in the past 30 years.
Kennedy 190; Glasgow 231.
[7,000/10,000]
332
●
JAMES A. M.WHISTLER
The Draped Figure, Seated
.
Lithograph on light tan laid Japan paper, 1893. 212x162 mm; 8
3
/
8
x6
1
/
2
inches (with legend),
full margins. Edition of 107 for
L’Estampe Originale
, Paris,Album IV (October-December
1893), with the blind stamp on the original support sheet lower right. Signed with the
butterfly and inscribed “No. 67” in pencil, lower margin. A brilliant, warm, beautifully-
inked impression showing the strong black lines on the hat and the contours of the
drapery, and with all the subtle tonal variations distinct.Way 46; Levy 74; Spink 72.
[4,000/6,000]
332