and dowdeswell's. the attention that whistler gave to printing the venice sets, seeing each impression as a rare and unique object, helped to raise the art of etching to a new level of importance. in london, whistler turned to the streets of chelsea, exploring the visual possibilities in rows of shop fronts. the subjects selected were intimate vignettes of everyday life most of his etchings just a few inches in size. he considered large prints which were generally popular to be vulgar-- "displays of ignorance," he said. sketching and etching had by this time become interchangeable. delicacy seemed the keynote of everything. he traveled frequently to france and to the low countries. etchings, suchs the palaces in brussels, were variations on old themes, but continued to move his work faher along the road to abstraction. in 1888, whistler married beatrix godwin, the architect's widow, herself a capable artist. their marriage began the happiest phase of whistler's life. visiting amsterdam in 1889 the arti