Accession Number
1992/1.143

Title
The Forge—Passage du Dragon

Artist(s)
James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1894

Medium & Support
transfer lithograph with stumping on laid paper

Dimensions
13 1/16 in. x 8 1/4 in. ( 33.1 cm x 21 cm )

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David P. Tunick

Label copy
The Forge, Passage du Dragon
1894
Transfer lithograph with stumping
Third state of four (Way 72; Chicago 102)
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. David P. Tunick, 1992/1.143
The theme of a forge returns in this late work, although here the focus is not on figures illuminated by a furnace in a dark interior but on figures silhouetted against the darkness of the interior. This forge was in a district of copper-, tin-, and ironworkers off the rue de Rennes in Paris, an area demolished early in the twentieth century. The image is divided into three horizontal strata: the lower zone of the street, the flickering forms seen against the enveloping darkness, and the lovely domestic vignette above.

Subject matter
Whistler frequently depicted figures in dark interiors, and forges, smithies, coopers, and so forth, provided him with suitable material to explore such effects. This image was drawn not far from where the artist lived in Paris in a region of tinsmiths and other metal workers between the rue de Rennes and the cour du Dragon, an area demolished in the early 20th century.

Physical Description
A dark horizontal opening shows three men working and talking. Above is an arched recess, at the top of which is an open window with a plant. Below the large horizontal opening, a chicken stands in the street just below.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Western

Rights
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Keywords
Gallus gallus (species)
buildings
chickens
groups of people
openings (architectural elements)
windows