MMaxi Madeiraman

Title Pierrot (Oudezijds Achterburgwal)

Year 1889

Artist James Abott McNeill Whistler

Technique Ink on paper/Dry-point and etching

Dimensions 22,9 x 16,1 cm





The back of a house reflected in the water of an Amsterdam canal. There are two people in the doorway on the waterfront: a man leaning against a post (a dreamy figure, perhaps the Pierrot of the title?) and a woman leaning over the water. The building and the water are rendered with rough areas of hatching which leave large areas of black. A vague reflection of the two figures is visible in the water. James McNeill Whistler made this print in 1889, when he spent two months in the Netherlands. In fact, the artist visited this country several times. He found the rivers and canals inspiring and was especially enthralled by Amsterdam. In a series of prints he recorded his favourite parts of the city: the picturesque canals of the slum areas with their delapidated houses and rows of washing lines.