This stunning new survey focuses on a little-documented period of Whistler's career: his stay in Venice from 1879 to 1880. Arriving in the footsteps of such renowned artists as Canaletto and Turner, whose enthusiasm for representing the city was shared by so many Grand Tourists, Whistler was determined to do more than simply capture its popular views. He wanted to penetrate further -- to achieve a greater understanding of the nature of Venice itself.
Whistler and His Circle in Venice explores Whistler's struggle to find a "Venice of the Venetians, " through a sumptuous collection of his pastels, etchings, watercolors, and oil paintings. It goes on to examine in detail the significance of Whistler's etchings in terms of his technical and compositional innovations.
As this book reveals, Whistler's new approach to Venice was profoundly significant, challenging and redefining the ways in which others viewed the city. It also traces the remarkable breadth of his influence, on numerous artists in the US and Europe, including Walter Sickert, and most notably on American artist John Singer Sargent, whose lifelong association with Whistler -- begun during this stay in Venice -- receives a new and in-depth appraisal. Whistler's impact on pictorial photography -- and especially on one of the great American masters, Alfred Stieglitz -- is explored here for the first time.
Whistler and His Circle in Venice offers new insight into the career of one of the period's most important figures. Packed withWhistler's beautiful evocations of one of the best-loved cities in the world, this book will appeal as much to lovers of Venice as to those fascinated by Whistler himself.
