Harris Schrank Fine Prints

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Chelsea Embankment, etching, 1886, signed with the butterfly in the plate. Kennedy 260, Glasgow 268, only state. Printed in brownish/black ink on a cream laid paper with a partial Strasbourg Lily watermark. The full sheet, 1 3/4 x 5 1/4, the sheet 5 1/2 x 9 inches. The sheet in good condition (mat stain outside of plate mark). A fine early impression of this rare print. There was no edition. Only a few early impressions printed by Whistler are known to Glasgow: two bought by Charles Freer, another by Howard Mansfield, and a few in […]

James Abbot McNeil Whistler (1834-1903), The Dyer, 1879-1880, etching and drypoint, on laid paper, signed in pencil on the tab with the butterfly and inscribed “imp” (also with the butterfly in the plate left). Reference: Glasgow 192, first state (of 10, see discussion below), trimmed by the artist on the platemark except for the tab; 306 x 240 mm. Provenance: Louisine and Henry O. Havemeyer, by descent to their daughter Adaline Havemeyer Frelinghuysen, by descent to her son The Honorable Peter H.B. Frelinghuysen, by descent to his son Peter Frelinghuysen, by descent to his wife Barrett Frelinghuysen A very fine […]

James Whistler (1834-1903), Old Putney Bridge, 1879, etching and drypoint, signed in pencil with a large, elaborate shaded butterfly, lower right and inscribed imp (also signed with the butterfly in the plate), printed in dark-brown/black ink on laid paper, watermark ProPatria, an impression in Glasgow’s seventh (final) state, published by The Fine Art Society, probably printed in 1881, 8x 11 3/4 inches, sheet 12 1/8 x 16 1/8 inches. Reference: Kennedy 178; Glasgow 185. Provenance: Kraushaar Gallery, New York A fine impression, with wide margins. The Fine Art Societys relationship with Whistler began with the new etchings of the Thames […]

James Whistler, The Little Putney, 1879, etching and drypoint, signed with the large butterfly lower right (also with the butterfly in the plate). Glasgow 187, third state (of 3). 124 x 201 mm. In very good condition, with wide margins (a tiny rust spot right margin), printed in brownish/black ink on laid paper. Provenance: S.H. Nazeby Harrington (lugt 1349), with his stamp lower left recto. Harrington was an art critic, author of the catalogue raisonne for Seymour Haden (Whistler’s brother-in-law) prints. A very fine impression, with substantial plate tone. MacDonald (Glasgow) notes that relatively few impressions of the third state […]

James Whistler (1834-1903), Fanny Leyland, drypoint, 1874, signed in the plate at left with the butterfly, inscribed Fanny Leyland at upper left. Glasgow 135, 6th state (of six). Printed in a dark brown ink on an ivory laid paper, with a Pro Patria watermark. In generally good condition (some soft horizontal folds, remains of prior hinging verso, slight toning, soft fold and tiny nick at right edge). Glasgow notes that only 12 impressions are known. Provenance: John H. Wrenn (1841-1911), with his initials stamp verso (Lugt 1475). Wrenn was a Chicago financier and print collector. He is referred to in […]

James Whistler (1834-1903), Venus, 1859.Etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on laid paper, an impression in the second (final) state: there was no published edition. 6 x 9 inches (15 x 22.6 cm) sheet 73/8 x 117/8 inches (18.8 x 30.3 cm) Reference: Kennedy 59; Glasgow 60 A study of Fumette, asleep in bed, her head pressed into the pillow and the bedclothes covering her lower legs. This is one of three portraits Whistler made of Fumette in 1859: one of the others shows her standing and in the third only her head and shoulders are depicted. Venus is […]

  James Whistler (1834-1903), Penny Passengers, Limehouse, 1860. Etching and drypoint, signed in pencil with a butterfly and inscribed imp, printed in black ink on laid paper, trimmed at the platemark, leaving a signature tab, an impression in the second (final) state, one of only six recorded, 31/4 x 81/8 inches (8.2 x 20.7 cm) Provenance: Otto Gerstenberg, stamp verso [Lugt 2785] Reference: Kennedy 67; Glasgow 71 The buildings on the far bank of the Thames and the ship and their masts moored there show the distinctive draughtsmanship of the period 1859–1860 when Whistler worked in Limehouse and made an […]

James Whistler (1834-1903), J.H. Woods’ Fruit Shop, Chelsea, etching and drypoint, 1887-88. Signed with the butterfly on the tab and annotated “imp,” also signed with the butterfly in pencil verso and numbered “1”. References: Kennedy 265 second state (of 2), Glasgow 327 second state (of 4).  Trimmed by the artist around the plate mark except for the tab, in excellent condition. Printed in black ink on ivory laid paper, 3 3/4 x 5 1/8 inches. A fine impression of this great rarity; the print was never published.  Glasgow accounts for four impressions. watermark: partial arms of Amsterdam(cf. Spink/Stratis/Tedeschi, watermark nos. 12ff.) This […]

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Little Mast, etching, drypoint and burnishing, 1879-80, signed in pencil with the early shaded butterfly lower left and annotated “imp”. References: Glasgow 196, Kennedy 185. Glasgow’s third state (of 8). From the Twelve Etchings, The First Venice Set. With margins, 10 5/8 x 7 1/2, the sheet 12 3/8 x 8 7/8 inches. In very good condition. Provenance: Charles C. Cunningham (with his stamp verso, Lugt 4684 James Lawrence Claghorn (with his stamp recto lower right, Lugt 555c) Kennedy Galleries (with their stock number a94365 verso) A very fine early proof impression, printed on a Chinese […]

  James Whistler (1834-1903), The Beggars, etching and drypoint, 1879-80, signed with the butterfly and inscribed “imp”. Reference:  Glasgow 190, seventh state (of 17),  Kennedy 194, fourth state (of 9), from the First Venice Set. In excellent condition (tiny nick bottom margin; remains of hinges verso), with margins, 12 1/8 x 8 1/4 inches, the sheet 13 x 9 1/4 inches. An exceedingly fine impression, printed on sturdy laid paper, with a Strasbourg Lily with a W watermark. With substantial plate tone especially towards the bottom of the composition, wiped carefully to highlight the figures at the end of the tunnel, and […]

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Bridge, Amsterdam, etching, 1889, printed in brown ink on thin laid paper, signed with the butterfly on the tab and annotated “imp”, also signed with the butterfly on the verso and numbered 11. References: Kennedy 409, Glasgow 447, fifth state (of 5). In very good condition (slight nicks at edges), trimmed by the artist on the plate mark apart from the tab, 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. Provenance: Vivian and Meyer P. Potamkin, Philadelphia; sale, Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 1989, lot 302 (the catalogue entry mentions a note on the mat which identifies this […]

    James Whistler (1834-1903), The Duet, lithograph, 1894, signed in pencil with the butterfly lower left margin (also signed in the plate upper left). Reference: Spink 104, Way 64, Levy 95, only state; 39 lifetime impressions printed. In very good condition (slight rippling right), printed on cream laid paper, with full margins, 246 x 165 mm, 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches, the sheet 280 x 196 mm, 11 x 7 7/8 inches. Provenance: Rosalind Birnie Philip (her stamp verso, Lugt 406). Birnie Philip, Whistler’s sister-in-law and executrix, used two stamps on the lithographs in her collection. Lugt 406, […]

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Gants de Suede, lithograph, 1890, signed in pencil with the butterfly lower left [also with the artist’s butterfly signature in the plate].  Reference: Spink, Stratis and Tedeschi 35. In good condition, with slight evidence of pale mat staining, pinhole toward bottom edge.   8 1/2 x 4 1/8, the sheet 12 1/2 x 8 3/16 inches. Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, with their stock number (a23958) recto. Estate of Marie D. Powers (acquired from above, 1974) A fine lifetime impression. Printed on a cream laid paper with the watermark IV, Spink et al’s Watermark number 191 (IV countermark to […]

  James Whistler (1834-1903), The Traghetto, etching and drypoint, 1879-80, signed with the butterfly on the tab and inscribed imp. Reference: Kennedy 191, fourth state (of 6), Glasgow (MacDonald et al) 223, 7th state (of 9), before the eyes are added to the child at the left, and without the carafe on the table. From the First Venice Set. In excellent condition, trimmed by the artist to the platemark except for the signature tab. 9 1/2 x 11 7/8 inches. A fine impression, printed on laid paper, with subtle plate tone. With Whistler’s three tiny circles in pencil verso, indicating […]

  James Abbott McNeill Whistler  (1834-1903), DRURY LANE, etching, 1880-81, signed with the butterfly and inscribed imp in pencil [also with the butterfly upper right in the plate], on 18th Century laid paper, a proof impression apart from The Second Venice Set. References: Glasgow 243, only state; Kennedy 237, only state. In very good condition, with very wide margins, 6 3/8 x 3 7/8, the sheet 11 x 8 3/4 inches. A fine early impression, printed in brownish/black ink. Drury Lane, London, was known then as now as a centre of theatres and entertainment. Although titled the Second Venice Set […]

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Limehouse, etching, 1859. References: Glasgow 48, fifth state (of 6), Kennedy 40, third state (of 3), signed with the butterfly in pencil in the lower margin. [Also signed and dated in the plate.]With margins, 5 x 7 7/8 inches, the sheet 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. Published as no. 12 in A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and Other Subjects, otherwise known as the Thames Set. In good condition apart from a soft diagonal fold in the sky. A very fine impression, in black ink on a thin Japan paper. Provenance:  Dr. […]

James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Gabled Roofs, lithograph, 1893. Reference: Chicago (Spink et al) 64, only state. From the lifetime edition of 12 (there was also a posthumous edition of 53 printed by Goulding in 1904). In very good condition, with margins, 7 3/4 x 6 1/4, the sheet 12 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches. Provenance: Childs Gallery, Boston, with their stamp verso, and on their mat (with their catalogue notations). A fine impression of this rare lithograph, printed on a cream laid paper with the watermark ProPatriaB (this is Spink watermark 251, one of the watermarks specified in Spink […]

  James Whistler (1834-1903), La Marchande de moutarde – The Mustard Merchant 1858,  etching and drypoint on cream laid paper (with a partial script watermark).  Reference: Kennedy 22, first state (of five); Glasgow 20 (Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011) first state (of 5). Lochnan 24. In very good condition, with wide margins: 6 ¼ x 3 1/2; the sheet 9 1/8 x 7 ¼ inches. A very fine impression of the extremely rare first state of five, printing with rich tone; before the […]

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Bridge, Santa Marta, 1879-80, etching with drypoint, printed in sepia on fine laid paper. Signed with the butterfly and inscribed imp on the tab (also with an exceedingly light butterfly lower right in the plate).  Kennedy 204, probably eighth (final) state; Glasgow 201, probably state 9 (of 9) (cf. Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011), Lochnan 199. Trimmed to the platemark by the artist, h: 11.8 x w: 7.9 in / h: 30 x w: 20.1 cm. A fine impression, […]

James Whistler (1830-1903), Battersea Morn (also Battersea Dawn),  drypoint, 1875, Kennedy 155, signed in pencil with the butterfly and inscribed “imp”. Kennedy 155, first state (of 4), Glasgow 174, first state (of 5). On laid paper with a Coat of Arms watermark, also signed in the plate with a faint butterfly upper right, with full margins, in good condition apart from a few slight fox marks and light soiling in the margins, a tiny printer’s crease in the right edge, hinge stains and small related creases in the upper corners verso, 5 3/4 x 8 7/8 (sheet 8 x 13) […]

James McNeill Whistler (1830-1903), Lagoon: Noon, etching and drypoint, 1879-1880, signed with the butterfly and inscribed “imp” on the tab [also signed with the butterfly in the plate lower left]. Reference: Glasgow 209, third state (of 3), Kennedy 216, third state (of 3); Lochnan 231, 4 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches. A fine impression with very little plate tone, and printed with extraordinary attention to the etching and drypoint details. The printed butterfly, usually only barely visible, is clearly defined in this impression (see detail below).  Kennedy mades special note that an impression like this, with the clearly visible butterfly, […]

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Mill, 1889, etching and drypoint, signed in pencil with the butterfly on the tab and inscribed “imp”, and inscribed “first state” (twice) and annotated “Wunderlich” and signed again with the butterfly verso.  Reference: Kennedy 413, first state (of 5). Glasgow 457, second state (of 6; see discussion below) (cf. Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011) On laid paper, in very good condition, trimmed just outside of the platemark all around except for the tab by the artist, 6 1/4 x […]

James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Unsafe Tenement, etching, 1858. [signed in the plate lower right]. References: Kennedy 17. Glasgow 18, fourth state (of four). In very good condition, printed on a very thin (two ply?) Japan paper, with margins, 6 1/8 x 8 3/4, the sheet 8 1/4 x 11, archival mounting. A brilliant, black impression printed with astonishing clarity and exquisite detailing, on an ivory Japan paper. Presumably this is a proof impression before the relatively large edition published in this state (the edition was not on this paper). Provenance: Inscribed “To Otto J. Schneider from his friend Frederick […]