For Museum Educators

To assist with public programming at the museum level, Dr. Eric Denker, Whistler expert and Senior Lecturer in the Education Department at the National Gallery of Art, has prepared PowerPoint presentations on Whistler’s place in 19th-Century art, and a primer on print techniques. The images included in these presentations are in the public domain, and cleared for use.

» Whistler’s Place in Nineteenth Century Art

Whistler was a radical reformer of the pictorial arts and a pioneer in the development of nonrepresentational art. He was also greatly praised for his strength as a draftsman and his ingenuity as a printmaker. Whistler’s contributions to etching are explained in this fascinating discussion. (View Essay and Presentation)

» Print Techniques

Printmaking, along with painting and sculpture, is one of the traditional avenues of artistic expression. The different types of prints, and the techniques used to make them, are explained. (View Essay and Presentation)

Additional Resources:

• The Etching Project, an online catalogue raisonné of Whistler’s etchings created by the University of Glasgow (http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk).
• The Process of Etching: Heart, Eye & Hand video
• Background Essays covering Whistler’s etching work:
  • Introduction to Etching
  • The French Set
  • The Thames Set
  • The Venice Sets
  • The Amsterdam Set
• Etching animation videos
  • Whistler’s Etchings: The Trip Through the Rhineland
  • Whistler’s Etchings: Re-Working of A Single Copper Plate
  • Whistler’s Etchings: Recurring Themes
• Visit the Artwork