In this depiction of a canal in Amsterdam the sense of mystery and unease is heightened by the inclusion of an unseen sepctator's face, reflected in a mirror projecting from a window. The narrow, vertical format and spidery lines show McBey's appreciation of Whistler's etchings. 

James McBey, 1883-1959

Born in Newburgh, on the Aberdeenshire coast, McBey was largely self-taught, although he had attended evening classes at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen. He moved to London in 1911, and held his first exhibition of etchings at Goupil's; this was followed by a show in Glasgow in 1912 and one in Edinburgh in 1913. He gained considerable reputation as an etcher and painter, his subject-matter inspired by his many travels to Spain, Morocco, Venice and America. He was, from 1916 to 1918, an Official War Artist on the western Front in France, in Egypt and in Palestine.