Quiet Canal 1879 - 1880

James McNeill Whistler made this etching, called "Quiet Canal", using a metal plate and acid. It pictures one of Venice's many waterways. Whistler made a name for himself in London artistic circles. Yet, he was an American expatriate, eager to show off his international flair. The artist produced this work during a trip to Venice, Italy. It's one of a set of prints and paintings of the city. Whistler's Venice was not the grand, tourist Venice of popular imagination. Instead, he wanted to show the backstreets, the bits of the city where ordinary people worked and lived. This version of Venice allowed him to depict a culture untouched by contemporary life. In doing so, Whistler appealed to an increasingly urbanized and industrialized Britain and America. To understand Whistler's work, historians consider a variety of sources, including letters between artists, exhibition reviews, and sales records.