Studio: international art (30.1904)

James McNeill Whistler

• CREMORNE BY J. MCNEILL WHISTLER

(By permission of T. R. Way, Esq.)

reaching them. From the first, he never failed
to understand that the drawing itself, whether on
stone or on transfer paper, is only a means to an
end, that the finished printed proof should be
the goal in view from the beginning, even as it is
to the etcher. Indeed, he used for many of his
later prints a transparent smooth transfer paper,
upon which the picture was hardly visible, but
which gave him a quality of touch quite distinct
from any other material; and when I ventured
to protest against the difficulty this defect caused
to the artist, and that the paper was meant for
ink writing and not for chalk at all, he replied
that it was unnecessary for him to see the full
effect of the drawing, because he knew what he
would get in the proof from the varying force
with which he made the drawing. Thus, on every
occasion that he used this paper, when the draw-
ing was transferred to the stone and charged with
printing ink the result came as a surprise to the
printer, and Whistler himself was the only person
who could judge of its success or failure.

My father, Mr. Thomas Way, had fortunately
had the opportunity of being introduced to
Whistler, and being an enthusiastic believer in
the possibilities of the art which he had spent
his life in trying to perfect, and also an admirer
of the great painter's work, was happy in
inducing him to make a trial; and as a result
three or four figure subjects were produced, followed
by the Lwiehouse and Nocturne. Then a further
impetus was given to the artist's growing interest,

in the proposal to do a series of lithographs, in order
to assist the waning fortunes of a weekly magazine
called " Piccadilly," edited by Mr. Theodore
Watts-Dunton, of which the cover, a view of
Piccadilly from the south side, was drawn by
George du Maurier. Whistler was to supply a
lithograph for each number, and he set to work
with great enthusiasm at his task. For economy's
sake in the printing rather large stones were used,
and he drew two subjects on each. Four drawings
were so made and printed through the whole
edition required, but the effort to help the
magazine had been started too late, and it will
not be a surprise to those who knew his manner
of work to learn that publishing day arrived
before the printing had begun, and there was, as a
result, a continuous succession of boys from the
publishers waiting in Wellington Street for small
packets of the prints as they came fresh from
the printing machine ! Of the four drawings made
and printed, only two were published before
"Piccadilly" succumbed. Of the other two,
nearly all the prints were destroyed, a very limited
number of picked impressions of the Early
Morning litho-tint alone being carefully pre-
served. And whilst mentioning this last print,
it is interesting to remember that the first
state of this exquisitely delicate drawing—in my
opinion the greatest triumph of all his litho-tints—
was in its first state so dark as to be quite a noc-
turne. But under his hand it grew from its
twilight to the silver of early morn as he had

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