Chelsea Bridge and Church

Chelsea Bridge and Church

James McNeill Whistler

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this etching, Whistler looks along the Thames toward Chelsea Old Church and the Albert Bridge. As a resident of the area, he knew that pending construction of the Embankment would soon significantly alter the riverbank. His admiration for Japanese woodblock prints influenced the oriental profile of the distant bridge, placement of the barge and rowboat in the left foreground, and soft dark contours where the etching has been strengthened with drypoint. This was the latest work included in Ellis & Green’s 1871 publication of the "Thames Set," postdating other prints in the portfolio by a decade.


Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Chelsea Bridge and ChurchChelsea Bridge and ChurchChelsea Bridge and ChurchChelsea Bridge and ChurchChelsea Bridge and Church

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.