Studio: international art (32.1904)

IVhistler in Belgium

Klinger, and many more. These names of them-
selves indicate what was the company in which
Whistler found himself in Belgium, and how close
was their elective affinity.

In the course of these years I had been to
London and had the honour of being admitted
to the painter's intimacy : I remember with grati-
tude the friendship he kindly showed me. The
distinction of his individuality, of his manner and
his mind, his love of solitude and meditation, the
absorbing charm of his talk, interrupted by frequent
and almost jarring outbursts ; the irony of his tone,
of his smile, of his hard, short, nervous laugh, his
weary indifference to all the material elements of
life, taught me, in the well-lighted studio in Chelsea,
where I spent many never-to-be-forgotten days, to
understand his art—an art of dreams, sensations,
and mystery, illuminated by fugitive flashes—and
at the same time the singular refinement of his
eye. There was, indeed, a sort of intellectual
relationship between himself and the painted
figures wrought by his hands, who, in their narrow
frames of dull gold, hung about his room. I felt
that they, like him, were of the quintessence of
humanity. Whistler infused into their features
and attitudes something of his own superfine
nature; his psychology shone through on his
sitters, transfiguring and elevating them—though
he gave full value to their individuality—by the
extreme distinction which was his gift. The atmo-
sphere he wrapped them in was that of his own
mind. If it be true, as Camille Mauclair has
asserted in his luminous study of Whistler,* that
the artist had the singular faculty of showing us
the psychical glow of a human soul shining
through, so that we seemed to see his spirit
between ourselves and his body, it was undoubtedly
the spiritual reflection of his own soul that was
reflected in those twilight mirrors. The superiority
of his genius set an indelible stamp on every one
of his works; at the first glance we should know
them among thousands.

Whistler was in Belgium in September, 1887.
He was enchanted at Brussels with the picturesque
and disreputable quarter of les Marolles, in the
old town. He was frequently to be met in the
alleys which pour a squalid populace into the old
High Street, engaged in scratching on the copper
his impressions of the swarming life around him.
When the inquisitive throng pressed him too hard
the artist merely pointed his graver at the arm
or neck or cheek of one of the intruders. The
threatening weapon, with his sharp, spiteful laugh,

* "Revue politique et litte>aire."

put them at once to flight. These etchings were
intended to form as important a series in the
artist's collected works as those he carried away
from Venice. But the scheme was not completely
carried out.

An unforeseen event brought Whistler again to
Belgium several years later. Unknown to him
an American journalist had placed in the hands
of a printer at Antwerp the manuscript copy of a
pamphet called "The Gentle Art of making
Enemies," desiring him to print two thousand
copies. This was a compilation of various docu-
ments collected by the painter in the course of his
chronic battles with his critics : the narrative of his
action against John Ruskin, the reports of his
lectures on art, of his polemical correspondence
with the recognised judges of painting and etching
—all the despatches, in short, of the merciless war
waged by one of the most original artists of the
age against those who had withstood innovations
in art.

The journalist was authorised by Whistler to
arrange these papers. Foreseeing the excitement
they would cause as a contribution to the history
of art, he had projected an edition of them on
his own account. Twice already, in England
and in America, Whistler had forefended this
manoeuvre. It was on the point of success
at Antwerp when the painter, informed of this
new attempt, suddenly made his appearance in
Belgium and took counsel with the famous
lawyer, Edmond Picard, who advised him to
have the whole of the papers and stock seized,
and recommended him to his colleague, Albert
Maeterlinck, one of the leaders of the Bar at
Antwerp.

The case was tried at Antwerp in October,
1897, and Whistler, who never drew back
from any contest once begun, sat by the
side cf his counsel to defend his rights in
person.

The " Independance Beige " reported this sensa-
tional trial as follows :—

" In the absence of the accused, who now resides
in Paris and had prudently refrained from answering
to the summons, the arguing of the case presented
only half the interest expected of it. But, at any
rate, those members of the legal profession in Ant-
werp who were at the Palais de Justice on Monday
last had the rare treat of seeing the great artist
Whistler, and of noting the Mephistophelian
sparkle of his eye, which flashes with youthful fun
from under the thick iron-grey eyebrows, behind
the glass of his monocle. Mr. Whistler, who

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