Australian born Mortimer Menpes studied with Whistler in 1880-81 and helped Whistler print his etchings. In 1887 Menpes left for Japan, upsetting Whistler, where he traveled through 1888. In this “Whistlerian” etching Menpes compares the bridges and canals to Venice.
Like his mentor Menpes believed that artists should do their own printing and, like Whistler, he sought out a variety of antique papers, often book end-papers, often preferring old papers that had some degree of aging, feeling they were softer and held the ink better than new sheets. This impression is printed on an antique paper.
