Whistler created ten etchings of Amsterdam, which he believed were some of the most successful of his career. Being in the land of Rembrandt, whom Whistler called "the master," inspired him. These etchings combine the exacting technique of his early Thames scenes with the impressionism of his Venetian subjects. In the Amsterdam works Whistler used intricate linear patterns to evoke the varied surfaces of the houses and their reflections in the canals.