James McNeill Whistler 1834-1903

This panoramic view depicts Old Westminster Bridge as it appeared during its reinforcement with wooden piles and struts. In the distance, the silhouette of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben are clearly visible against a sketchy, breezy sky. The composition, with its narrow format and high detail concentrated in the centre, was heavily influenced by the 17th-century panoramas of Wenceslaus Hollar, an artist well-represented in the collection of Whistler’s brother-in-law, Seymour Haden. Whistler adds a touch of rural life to the urban scene by including two men on horses in the foreground water, perhaps cart horses used for pulling barges. This work represents a more conventional topographical style compared to the gritty realism of his Wapping etchings.