Shipping, Venice

Otto Bacher was in Venice at the same time as Whistler in 1879-80, and kept a printing press in his apartment at the Casa Jankovitz, where both artists lodged. Whistler sometimes borrowed Bacher's press to make proofs of his latest etchings, and together they explored the life of the city through their prints. In his memoir of their time in Venice, Bacher noted that this etching captured a view seen from the window of Whistler's one-room apartment.