Artwork
Price's Candle-Works
Price's Candle-Works is an ink print by the Impressionist artist James McNeill Whistler. It dates from 1875 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created circa 1875, *Price’s Candle‑Works* is a drypoint print by James McNeill Whistler. Executed on laid paper, the work depicts a compact industrial riverscape, rendered in fine, slightly fuzzy lines that convey a muted atmosphere without overt narrative.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents a row of brick factories capped by tall chimneys, their silhouettes mirrored across a river where a modest boat drifts. By focusing on the functional architecture of a London waterfront, Whistler emphasizes the quiet rhythm of urban industry rather than romanticizing the scene.
Technique & Style
Whistler employed drypoint, incising the image with a sharp needle into a copper plate. The resulting burr produces soft, velvety edges that give the lines a sketch‑like quality. The restrained palette of the off‑white laid paper and the subtle gradations of tone illustrate his preference for suggestion over detailed realism.
History & Provenance
The print emerged during Whistler’s London period, a time when he championed the principle of “art for art’s sake” and turned away from sentimental representation. It was likely produced in limited numbers, typical of his drypoint experiments, and later entered private collections before being acquired by the museum.
Context
*Price’s Candle‑Works* aligns with Wharlow’s broader interest in the interplay of light and atmosphere within cityscapes and industrial settings. Alongside his oil and watercolor works, the print reflects his ongoing exploration of modern urban life, echoing the aesthetic concerns of the Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th century.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom.
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