James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) - Lot 357

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) The Unsafe Tenement. 1858. Etching. 225 x 156. Kennedy 17. Very fine proof on applied buff bulla, of the 3rd state (of 4), before erasure of Delâtre's address. Some light foxing to margins and verso. Narrow margins (3 to 5 mm). Joint: Alderney Street. 1881. Etching (galvano). 111 x 178. Kennedy 238. Fine proof of the print run for the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, annotated in pen and sepia ink "Bon à tirer" and signed by Louis Gonse. Rippling due to printing pressure, clear trace of marginal oxidation and dusting on verso. Full margins. Ens. 2 p. Provenance: Michel Romand (1929-2013), great-grandson of Edmond Sagot (1857-1917). Olivier, baron de Wismes (Jean-Baptiste Héracle Olivier de Blocquel de Croix de Wismes) (1814-1887) Born in Paris on September 16, 1814, Olivier de Wismes was raised in an aristocratic environment. He was accepted at Saint-Cyr, but the revolution of 1830 put an end to this initial vocation. He studied law and archaeology with Raoul Rochette, drawing with Hubert, sculpture with Dantan aîné and engraving with Ciceri. He traveled throughout Germany and Italy, bringing back a number of drawings. With his friend Octave de Rochebrune, an engraver, he devotes himself passionately to etching. From then on, he took an interest in Upper Brittany, Anjou, Maine and Poitou, and became one of the leading figures in the region's arts and letters. Settling in Nantes since his marriage in 1844, he became involved in a number of learned societies, co-founding the Société Archéologique et Historique de Nantes et de Loire-Inférieure and serving as its president from 1878 to 1881. A founding member of the Musée Archéologique in 1846, he contributed to its development.