Whistler's lithographs

Magazine Antiques, Dec, 1998 by Alfred Mayor

The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler: Volume I: A Catalogue Raisonne, ed. Harrier K. Stratis and Martha Tedeschi, and Volume II: Correspondence and Technical Studies, ed. Martha Tedeschi (Art Institute of Chicago in association with the Arie and Ida Crown Memorial, distributed by. Hudson Hills Press, 212-674-6005), 2 vols., slip-cased $395. 00 (hardcovers).

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) created 179 lithographs in 246 states. They are all reproduced in this two-volume catalogue raisonne that runs to 992 pages. It is the triumphant culmination of a decade's work that could easily bring Pallas Athena herself sprinting down from Olympus to the bookstore before the limited edition of 1,500 copies expires.

The catalogue is made wonderfully accessible by the simplest of devices: a 2 7/8-inch margin at the left of left-hand pages and at the right of right-hand pages. These margins are reserved for all the footnotes and other ancillary information pertaining to the lithograph in question. This eliminates lumbering trips to the back of the book but it presupposes the luxury of a 12 3/4 by 8 7/8 inch page - only one of the many sumptuous qualities found here.

Volume one, subtitled A Catalogue Raisonne, is all about the lithographs, with catalogue entries by Nesta R. Spink, a dealer in prints and drawings; Harriet K. Stratis, the conservator of prints and drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago; and Martha Tedeschi, the associate curator of prints and drawings at the Art Institute. They were assisted by Britt Salvesen.

Volume two, subtitled Correspondence and Technical Studies, is a fabulous parade of supporting documents. They include a long essay about Whistler, his printers, Thomas Way and his son, T. R. Way, and the printers' shop on Wellington Street, London. The very position of Wellington Street both geographically and culturally is a matter for discursive consideration. Next comes a transcription of the complete correspondence between Whistler and the Ways. For each letter even the piece of paper on which it is written is described, as in "Single sheet, written on two sides; addressed envelope. Dated in pencil, in another hand, on first side, Dec 85, and on envelope, Dec 85." The address is quoted, and so is the entire postmark. The correspondence has its own appendices. The other topics covered in volume two are Whistler's lithographic techniques, his marketing efforts, including a selective chronology of exhibitions, publications, and sales. There follows a chapter entitled "Notes on Important Individuals, Publications, and Galleries." The types of lithographic papers Whistler used, how he chose them, what they looked like, and how he used them comprise yet another chapter. The watermarks found in the lithographs are pictured and their use in dating the prints is explored. This chapter treats not only the lithographs printed during Whistlers lifetime but also those issued posthumously. For the latter there is a chronology.

For each lithograph considered in volume one there are twenty-one categories of technical information given in the ample margin. The main body of each entry discusses the subject, materials, technique, and date of the lithograph, the various states, editions, and public collections where impressions can be found.

Four essays by Katharine A. Lochnan, the curator of prints and drawings at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, masterfully summarize the four stages of Whistlers lithographic careen Indeed, she so thoroughly integrates the subjects and occasions for the lithographs into events of the artist's life that the essays serve as a mini-biography. They are separated by batches of the chronologically arranged lithographs, each one of which is announced by its number in bold numerals in the blessed margin. Thus, when you find a reference to a lithograph by the number assigned to it here, you need only fan the pages to find the picture.

The reproductions of the lithographs are as superb as the heavy cream-colored paper-acid free, of course - on which the book is printed. They were scanned by a high resolution digital camera and then printed as fine-screen halftones. This careful process does full justice to the often subtle differences between the states of a given lithograph.