Whistler, James A. M. NOCTURNE: PALACES. Glascow 200, Kennedy 202. Etching and drypoint with platetone, 1879-80. From the Second Venice Set. Signed on the tab with the butterfly in pencil. Printed in sepia on laid paper with no visible watermark. Trimmed just outside the platemark, leaving the tab. In excellent condition. As with all of the Whistler Nocturnes, each impressions of this print is different, dependng on how Whistler wiped and manipulated the platetone. 11 5/8 x 7 7/8 inches (plate and sheet, plus the tab). Framed to 20 x 16 inches.Provenance: Collection of Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, Jr. with his collection stamp (Lugt 1429) verso; Kennedy Galleries, with its inventory number a65609 in pencil verso, and with another inscription, "FWCX" in pencil, verso. Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, 1831-1920, was a great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson, a powerful Boston businessman, and an Ambassador to France.In 1875 he became the manager of the largest textile mill in America, the Amoskeag Mill in Manchester New Hampshire, and had major financial interests in the textile, banking, railroad, publishing and electrical industries. In 1880 he became the President of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. He was one of the founders of the United Fruit Company, of which his son was President. He was active in civic and philanthropic affairs, both in Boston and in Manchester-By-The-Sea, which included working with Frederick Law Olmstead on the design of Boston’s Park System, the “Emerald Necklace.” He served as U.S. Ambassador to France in 1892 and 1893.Here is the description from the Glascow Catalogue Raisonne:In the foreground is a stretch of water, where two canals meet. From near left, a four-storey palace recedes diagonally towards the right. Balconies on the first- and second-floor windows cast long shadows over an arched doorway opening onto the water. In the distance, at centre, a small bridge crosses the canal, illuminated by a lantern on the tall building to right. Further away, at the left, the corner of another palace appears. A small boat is moored by the wall of the palace at left, in front of the bridge. The building at right, drawn parallel to the edge of the copper plate, has an arched watergate and windows above. The sky is dark and the buildings are reflected in the water.
