Soupe à trois sous

A loose etching of a waterside café terrace under a slanting awning. In the foreground a bearded man in a cap gazes out, while other men lean over tables with bottles and glasses, one dozing with his head down. Quick, scratchy lines suggest light and bustle.

Look closer: The artist's signature 'Whistler' is scratched into the sky near the top center.

Artist

James McNeill Whistler

Date

1859

Medium

Etching, printed in black ink on fine cream laid paper; only state (Glasgow)

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3812 × 2578 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of William Loring Andrews, 1883, transferred from the Library