Steamboat Fleet, Chelsea by James McNeill Whistler, 1875/77, depicting multiple vessels moored along the Thames with intersecting mast lines creating a dynamic geometric composition

american artist, anchorage, architectural sketch, boat moored, boat study, boats moored, book, cargo vessels, chelsea, commercial shipping, composition study, dock scene, dockside activity, flotilla, industrial subject, industrial waterscape, industrial waterway, james mcneill whistler, linear perspective, london waterfront, maritime commerce, maritime scene, mast lines, nautical illustration, nautical subject, observational study, parallel lines, perspective study, preliminary study, repetitive form, river commerce, river scene, river traffic, riverboats, shipping fleet, shipping scene, steamboats, thames river, tonal study, transportation infrastructure, urban harbor, urban landscape, vessel masts, vessel rigging, water landscape, water transport, waterfront, waterside study, whistler, Abstracts and backgrounds,