Studio: international art (30.1904)

Reminiscences of Whistler

There is a magical quality in the art of this visionary
who has convinced himself, and his spells have a
marvellous power over the minds which are in tune
with his.

AFEW OF THE VARIOUS
WHISTLERS I HAVE KNOWN.
BY G. H. BOUGHTON, R.A.

Let me begin with one possible Whistler—un-
known as such, but suspected—in the very ancient
flesh which he claimed on the brazen mural
memorial that survives him on the time-toned walls
of the old priory church of St. Mary at Goring-on-
Thames. If one is tempted to wonder whether the
very peculiar trend of our Whistler's genius was sui
generis, or inherited from some remote ancestor,
the wanderer should gaze with doubly-added
wonder on the record-breaking case of longevity
graven on this unblushing brass, to which is added
the full-length effigy of the ancient and wondrous
Whistler himself, and his wife, and on a minor
scale, three sons and five daughters—and all
in the picturesque costume of the early seven-

teenth century, beneath which is the startling
announcement—

Here lyeth Buried the body of Hugh Whistler
the Sonne of Master Jhon Whistler of Goring
who departed this life the 17 day of Januarie
Anno Domini 1615 being aged 216 yeares.

Now whether there really exists any authentic
evidence of lineal descent of our Whistler from the
very flourishing family tree of these extraordinary
death-defying Whistlers of Goring I cannot say,
but will leave this tempting question to those
who love to pursue such possible affiliations.
Not only was this Hugh Whistler a marvel of
longevity, but there is another and costlier monu-
ment on the north wall of this church to a
Mistress Helinor Whistler and Mrs. Margaret
Whistler, " the former of which is a constant
subject of discourse of the parishioners of Goring
to this day ! "

If this vitality of "constant discourse" on
Whistlerian matters is no proof of our " Jimmie's "
relationship to these ancient Whistlers, then
what can be ? If others pursue this most interest-
ing trail and it should only lead to that lovely,

,»- >..

ETCHING
2C8

BY MATTHEW MARIS