An Etching by James Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler, one of the most influential figures in the 19th-century art world, learned etching while employed in the cartographic section of the U.S. Coast Survey. However, his unconventional work habits and his inability to conform to government routine led to his dismissal on January 9, 1855. After he completed this etching in the approved style, he thought it looked dull. Therefore, he added two flocks of gulls sailing gracefully over the rocky headland. James Abbott McNeill Whistler Photographic portrait taken in London, 1878.
Whistler is shown in an uncharacteristically refined pose.
London Stereographic Company, Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. National Archives, Records of the Coast and Geodetic Survey.