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James McNeill Whistler
The Lime-Burner, 1859
As a young art student in Paris, James McNeill Whistler took up etching in earnest while studying the technique of 17th-century Dutch master Rembrandt. Relocating in London in 1859, the American artist was drawn to the Wapping district on the Thames River. The area's warehouses, cargo ships, and workmen suited Whistler's interest in picturing the gritty aspects of modern life. Here he pictures a laborer who holds the dangerous job of burning chalk to make quicklime for building mortar. |