Steamers and Gondolas

Artist Robert Frederick Blum (American, 1857–1903)

Date1885

MediumEtching on wove paper

DimensionsImage: 7 5/8 x 8 1/4 inches (19.4 x 21 cm);
Sheet: 9 1/4 x 13 inches (23.5 x 33 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineBequest of William P. Chapman, Jr., Class of 1895

Terms

Marines
Etching
Boats
Bodies of water
Gondolas
Marines
Ships
Steamers
Venice, Italy

Object number62.1019

Label CopyBlum was another one of Duveneck’s boys visiting overlapping with Whistler’s time in Venice. Like Whistler he was enamored of Japanese art and with his encouragement he applied Japanese principles in an increasingly sophisticated and subtle manner. In an 1881 review of Blum’s work in The Critic, it was noted that he catches the effects in the lightest, most evanescent way. The bathing Venetian gamins are placed in the water with as few touches as a Japanese artist might use...” Blum eventually fulfilled a long held dream and went to Japan in 1889, an experience he fully embraced. (“The Touch of the Butterfly: Whistler and His Influence," curated by Nancy E. Green and presented at the Johnson Museum August 4-December 16, 2018)

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