Studio: international art (31.1904)

Studio- Talk

figure pieces included such masterpieces of the
artist's genius as Gold and Brown, the portrait of
the artist belonging to Mr. George W. Vanderbilt
(one of the most attractive of the portraits of him-
self), and a canvas one does not recall having seen
before, either in the original or reproduction, a full-
length portrait of a man, known as An Arrange-
ment in Flesh-colour and Brown, painted in Paris
in 1894; the splendid portrait of Miss Rosa Corder ;

Portrait de Madame S-; the portrait of Mrs.

Cassatt; a masterfully posed portrait of a woman,
entitled L'Andalusienne : Harmony in Red;
Whistler with a Hat; the four small and some-
what similar paintings of little girls, named Grenat
et Or, The Little Red Glove, The Rose of Lyme
Regis, and Rose and Gold—-all equally engaging.
Also shown, among numerous others, were six of
the " Japanese" paintings, executed in brilliant
pigments with a full and liquid brush, superb
"Symphonies" in purple, vermilion, white, blue,
green. A great many of the artist's delightful genre
pieces were also on view, and an excellent selection
of his " Nocturnes," the unequalled paintings of
dusk and night upon the Thames. Chief among
these latter were Cre7iwrne Lights, Bognor, a
painting often seen in America on exhibition ; and
The Lagoon, Venice.

The etchings and dry-points were displayed in a
long apartment cut in three by two screens, which,
with the walls, were covered with a white material,
while a frieze extending around the room was of
pale yellow. They convinced one that no one
has approached Whistler in this medium except
Rembrandt, if any further proofs were needed.
Framed in white with white mounts, the plates
appeared to advantage, and formed as representa-
tive a collection as one could desire. The litho-
graphs, also, called for much attention, and showed
him to be the equal of anyone in this fascinating
medium. The same may be said also of the
water-colours and pastels which were shown.
These, with the etchings and lithographs, seemed
to express his genius better than the oil paintings,
for his was not a vigorous art, but the last word
in an art refined and elegant. Nothing could be
more perfect in their way than such of the pastels
—they are all on brown paper, with the drawing
sketched in in black pastel—as A Venetian Doorway,
differing from the artist's other works, insomuch
as it is almost an architect's drawing, so complete
is it in detail; and a figure lightly draped in blue
and purple called Morning Glories, with similar

designs entitled Mother and Child, and Blue ana
Violet, May, an exquisite undraped figure; and
The Purple Cap, besides many others.

The drawings on exhibition, some executed in
pencil, some in pen-and-ink, others in sepia wash,
and some sketches in water-colour or pastel, though
slight performances, were designs full of charm.
Very attractive were the sketches made at Ajaccio,
and a beautiful little pen-and-ink drawing of an old
house at Canterbury. Twenty-two drawings and
sketches, some in pen-and-ink and some in water-
colour, done by the artist while at school, were
most interesting, and were shown for the first time,
not, having even been chronicled before. The two
drawings made while at West Point, under instruc-
tion, from copies, were on view also, as was a cover
designed by Whistler for the " U.S. Military
Academy Song of the Graduates, 1852.' None of
these three drawings would be recognised as being
Whistler's, so different are they in treatment and in
subject from his later work.

The photographs of the exhibition, by Marr, of
Boston, here reproduced, are copyrighted by the
Copley Society.

A. E. G.

We have received the following communication
from Mr. Aymer Vallance : " With deep regret I
learn from Mr. Voysey that a second reading of
my article (in the March Studio), in the light of
another person's suggested interpretations of what
I wrote, has made him apprehend that his pro-
fessional reputation may suffer. In justice, there-
fore, to Mr. Voysey, I should like to supplement
my article by an explicit declaration that nothing
other than absolute accord between architect
and client existed, in respect either of the house
Mr. Voysey built for Miss Conant, or the pro-
jected house for Mr. Lawrence at Hampstead.
In the former instance economic considerations
eventually determined the choice of material which
architect and client agreed to adopt. In the
second instance the plan fell through solely on
account of the restrictions which the vendor of the
land sought to impose, and which Mr. Voysey
united with Mr. Lawrence in resisting. As author
of the article which has—I am sure I need not add,
quite unintentionally—given Mr. Voysey pain, I
should be grateful if you can make room for this
short statement of facts in your earliest possible
issue."

361