The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1878-05-28 00:00:00

CELEHRITI i'S AT HONK
KR J4llllOl CHETNC-WALK
" Prow tAa World."

"Why not t" exclaim% the artist, with ten* mother's
•ivoi:y, his Ariel.' ersy eyes sparklius with excitement ;
" who -Mold not I cal my works symphonies, uremie.
na nts, harmonics, nocturnes, an.l so forth! I know that
meee good people whose seuse of humour in nut very
capuious think ruy nomeiszlature funny and myself
eccentric. Tes, eccentric is the hest adjective they find
form. I admit that it is miler to laugh at • man than
to appreciate him. Perhaps in my rue the latter operation
its of unusual difficulty. Bit do not they give me credit
for meaning something, and knowing what I meant It is
difficult to convey an idea of Hr. Whistler's intense
earnestness Every hair curls with animation, and the
slight active thure clad In a blue-serge yachting-suit,
almost realms the exceptional existence of Sir Boyle
Roche'. bird, h genuine enthusiut and persistent seeker
for perfection, he entertains a puniest& humorous resent-
mint against the Philistines who will not underatand his
meaning-to him and :Ma friend. dear enough. Artist
from the single gray lock of hair on los crest to the square
tom of his natty shook he think it strange that the vast
majority of English folk cannot and will not consider •
picture as • picture, apart from any story which it may
be supposed to tell.
*There is an illustration of my meaning," he continuos,
pointing to abet H is pleased to call a "armony in Gray
and Cold"-• snow scene with • rinsle black figure
making its way through the gloom to • brilliantly lighted
tavern. "Now that to me is • hat Mony of colour only. I
care nothing for the past promo, or future of the black
illgun_,-Eleced there because the black was wanted at that
spot-all I know is that my c mbination of gray and
gold satisfies my artistie feeling Nos this is precisely
what meet of my friend' will nut grasp. They say 'Why
not mill it Trottiy Yee'', and sell for • round harmony of
golden MI, simply that I will do nothing of
the kind. Not even- the genius of Dickens should be
invoked to Iced an adventitious aid to art of
another kind from his speaking under correction,
I should hold it • vulgar and meretricious trick
to excite people about Trotty Vick when, if they really
care for pictorial art at all, they would know that
the picture should hare its own merit, and
upon dramatic or legendary or local interest." This is
the corner-stone of Mr. Whistler's arkpltilisophy. He
Insists that as music is the poetry M sound, no is painting
the poetry of sight. and that the subject-matter has
nothing to do with harmony of sound or of character.
"The great musicians knew Min" he urges. "Beethoven
and the rest wrote music-simply music: symphony in
this key, concerto or smote in that. On Y or G they con-
'Snarled °siestasl harmonies—se harmonies, se combi-
nations, evolved from the chords of I' or 0 and their
minor correlatives. This is pure music as distinguished
from aire-commonplace and vulgar in themselves, but
Interesting from their associations, ask for instance,
"Yankee Doodle" or "Fastest your la Syria." Art
should be independent of all claptrap-should stand
alma and appeal to the artistic tense ef eye or ear,
without confounding this with emotion, entirely foreign
to it, as devotion, pity, love. patriotism, and the like.
All see have no kind of concern with art; and that is
why I insist on calling my works arreogements and
harmonies. There, hanging oppoeite my bed, is the
picture of my moth, r, eabileted at the Royal Academy so
an "Arrangement in Gray and Black." Now that is
what it is. To me It is interesting aa a picture of say
mother; bat what can or might the public to care about
the identity of the pcstrait I It must stand or fall on its
merits as an arrangement;"" and it very nearly fell-
that's • fast."
There is & story about this picture, exhibited some
four or re years ago. From the outset of his career
Kr. Whistler has not been looked on with loving eyes by
either the Royal Academy Committee or that of the Salon.
Whigs he melt la the "arrausement" just alluded to, It
met with scant welcome at Adidamic hands. Its first
7=lZ before the Committee was short, and sas
a prompt demerit to the collar of the rejected.
It chanced, however, that a short time after the dio-
missal of the "arrangement," Sir William Bolan came
by. Work was going briskly onward-pictures woes icing
chosen and rejected-when Sir William happened to look
over the list and see Mr. Whistler's name. "Picture by
Whistlar." he said "where is ii r Then arose •
Committee chorus of depreciation-a kind of "Donn
among the dead men let him lie," and the very
tate
committeeman was told that it was "a thing. •
"confounded arrangement or symphony, or something of
the kind." Anyhow it had descended ea infirm, and
there it would remain. To Sir William Bondi it seemed
otherwise. The gallant old veteran stood to his guns, and
aeciarigi that he would retire from the Cotumittee then
and time rather than it should be said that he formed
;ark of a body which bad condemned one of Kr. WhiAler's
Piettir4 attar a hasty glance. There was • sharp dia.
cussiou btu, whop the renskitrant meniber seined his hat,
the majority, a1.1.a • moment of gravity' told him he
should have his own wad. es It was • smolt matter. The
"arrangement" was hauled til, from the vtlar, recon.
sidered. and finally hung, to the enters oti;fartion of Mr.
Whistler's admirers.
This was not the only occasion on which the spoil* of
ark-se art alone-came nigh meetito with a rebuff. or
received:4o ens phO Moos. An American-a citizen of
Maryland, add. ta • to Ater of course, • WestePointer -he
baled to pees the esswtinslion Ornesawy to qualify him
for the United States &Pali, and, after receiving an
appointment for the navy, cauie-to grid. While employed
'n a survey he did not, when etching is coast-line,
c'ogillne himself to the subject-matter, het adorned his
hock with portraits and caricatures of his superior
oaken. Unluckily, or rather luckily, the plates were
taken away in hi; absence; and when prods were pulled,
his astounded chiefs found themselves depicted on the
m..ria, Mr. Whistler was dcly Informed that the
Mira service of Uncle Sam required him no more. 'And
h it possible," be asked, " that the service ean do without
r He was informed that his talents would he thrown
away on the dell routine of navy work, and, making his
hest bow-s feat which ha p Orrira eery skilfully-he
retired for ever from the service of his country. Rewired
on an artistic career he than went to Paris, when he art
at the feet of that celebrated Gsnialiel it. Maim Boding
moung his fellow.pupils Mr. Poynter, Mr. Armitage, and
Mr. Du lientior : but the trammels of regular academic
study mon proved irksome to the young American who,
after foregstberiog for a while with Courbet and the
impreseinitisies, otherwise known as !Mots Ass
w turned aside awl orked aloes The siert outc=o/
oriaisaal work wail the portral of Ls oohs Ggreed, • ,peeies
of mine du halisa, now in the possession a Mr.
Bwinhorne. Oscillating bet %teen London and Peru, Hr.
Whistler enjoyed the satisfaction of assins his pictures
rilimed alike by the Academy and the Salon. The
Piano" pkitare wee refused at the Salon, exhibited in
Longue, bosit big the Kr. John Philip. and made a
sematies. Theis the Kt that thee had
lan 1 it-gagiazsll:

This came the "Whit. Girl." refused both by the Salon
w,"I the Ree•l AigadelnY. end then exhibited at the Salon
des Refuse.. Nest in tinier—and thie tone with due
honours—came the " Wereeng" and th, "Balcony "
picture., Rod the "arrangement*" tend
with which the public of tooley are familisr. Pendiex
his eceriptuace by authority ea nintway. Mr. Whistl.r
busied himself with etching, and in this work of Art
produced an elect at elms.
There wa• an exhit, Goo at
Amsterdam, and there, In the country of Ramie- indt, he
wits at mice aeeePted 05 .0 etehret Si the fir-e. r.nk. Mr.
Whistler then busiwl himself much with the Pelmet-
n"di" and thin ”dry Point." and the Dateh hexing
pronounced a decisive opinion on his werk,Rualleticrities
jollew.ed their example, and after • little eppo-itlon the
wonderful river-Keats, such se "Old Billingamte,' the
Were. in Pm Po,l. " Chelos, and elsewhere. MOO both
eralg, end money. Just no Mr. Whiatler s etchings
h,canae the rage ...tong arteselkcto,e, he berAia,
Impressed with the idea list etching lent tile art, teat
it t. an ituperfect and inaccurate indic.elon rather ti 0
SC -evenient vehicle for the expression of pictorial genius,
and felling into a fine (rimer, eestroyed is large 100.1. r
0, hi, best plate.. A maim of unfinished else-. was flung
aside, and the etcher threw elev., his mole of, ever...
But" toe ever"' is • long word, ane when tin .neepesfel
street devoted himself exclusively to painting., he 1,4
told at once that he was "wrens again," ala "seceutrio"
itupractiraide use who could etch, hut wool i Dot; who
could not punt, but would Insist on Producing
" e• 3 re:theme-a and "errangemeuts " mad other incompre-
hensilde stuff. While he watt etching, be wag tharlilY
criticivel. Wets he left the etching needle for the b..tish.
he wan told that he had iiii.trieee his e_eatt,,n. The world,
it was said, wanted his etchings, but would have none of
his "serangeniente in greY and Week," which mily
showed that he was a born etcher, but entirely destitute
of any hie. of rdl..ur. As this only convinced Mr.
Whistler that his Ares ea, colour, he lounged into
• prolound snlsi. 'i the principle, oh which tiie
Janie.w artists produco their extraordinary colour-
humane:es. To the 'midt,. aye uueducated at that period
t i deism.. art—the wouttrowi mingling of coheirs
appear, d of a sp,cies sic ur-upsdness. The
young Aluericsa (=did he could defect toe Jacancee
gamut colour, Gm melted of the aeparriat in ulnes.
w:uch niii,iiletl duo with green, and placed different
shades of the same hue aide hy En, as if defying the
tredit:one of the West. Proceeding a:ware analytically,
he unravelled the harmonies of outline and colour in the
"Lingo lame, ' who pews on the tan jars of China and
otan. He d 'covered ei• trauseendent merit of the
'• blue and white" over which people use nm mad, and ,
thereby mede the haPPinees of seveial collectors, and the
fortune of an army of dealers. Now that everybody
knows the " hawthoen"—otherwise pyre. gafewkw -
potters, sad proles-es to admire old NLl4kiti as a decra- •
gee matrrial, end that the Imhionsl4.l female form Ims ,
•watuuti a Jepatiese outline, it stay seem aurprisiog that
people sailed as long for Mr. Whittler to find all this out
for them: but it is not twenty years since Oriedtal art was
sneeted at aa "grotesque." 1.4 docile.> was, it mu.t lie
understood, no servile inigat4r. What he strove, and
strives to do, Is not to Pidgin, the Japanese or aoybody
else, het to apply their analytical method to the colours
found in Nature. "It Is not imitation,' Mr. Whlsthr
explains; "nothing of the Ii miii. The imitator is a poor
kind of creature. If the man who paints only the tree or
flower or other surface be axles before him were an artisk
the king of artists could he the photographer. It is for
the artist to do something beyond this: in portraitepaintlng
to put on canes. emaciating more than the face the model
went. for that one day: to paiut the man, in short, as
well as hie features: in arrangement of colours to treat •
flower as hi• key, not as his model. This is now under-
stood indifferently wall—at least by dressmakers. In
every coeturne you see now attention I, pail to the ker•
note of celour which runs through the composition, as the
chant of the Analsaptiets through the Prophets, or the
Huguenots' by tllll in tho opera of that nate'. Look at the :
young girl just now pacing In grey and lesnon-colour,
topped by a pale-yellow-rom wreath, and her companion
In drab, with a suspicion of rosepink pervading her '
pickets end bream' knots and leeinet. She is • genuine
harmony in colour."
The prospect from Mr. Whietier's window in Meyer--
walk is always charttingt, even when upenlivened by the
presence of feminine symphonies and harmonies; and the
c instant conterniketion of the broad river has perhaps
tin ht him how to get his wonderful effects of watery
expense. At Cheyna-walk the colour-harroonist ham spent
peny lalmurioue years, and endured philosophically
enough the hostile blasts of criticistu. Not long ago he
concluded that be was wrong in his lusty decision to
destroy his copper-plates„ and determined once more to
Lake up the etching-needle. He found the truth of the
ell mw—that an artist's own work is of his worst
enemy. The old ambit:sea—those ,tf the first period—were
cried up, and those of the new time cried down. Never-
theism Mr. Whistler la again hard at work in his etching'
room at the hip of the hoe., which once formed part of
the old Lialesey mansion. This house was decorated and
furnithed by himself. Tim dining-roma is in various
eheles of peacockhilue, overgrown with an eruption of
Japaneee fens. The bedroom, with Be queer Chinese
hat, like an overgrown cradle, contains the "Arrange-
ment in Black end Gray" previously referred to. Round
the walls bang all kinds of strange Japanese raised work
and a aeries of designs for costumes, ono of which reminds
us strangely of the "arrengensent in black and yellow'
worn he Kra Lsyd Lindsey a, Loebinge Met July. Far
above thin, quite sees les foils, is the etching risen. It is
a solrron delight to watch Mr. Wlii-tier at week in this
room, dashing swat' with 111- dry pint, and relent hi,
proofs himself. In his method of working he follow. the
'sample of Rerolwan-lt and the great eht masters—draw-
ing his picture at once on the plate without pr-liminary
sketch of any kind. On !elate nue letrzes, on steambeat•
Piers art Midges, he work, with a rapid and unerring!
hand. The plates, if entiro.. are finished off with thy dry
point, so far as an etching 141°04 he finished, in the queer
little room where we sit, watching the etcher ret.mallina
a plate here. taking a proof there. and keeping op loran.
while an Imi-easing flow of conservation. Ti those who
love completeness in • man, it is gratifyitie to note the
rare with which the reel,' drauxlitsman elean• his plate
with terprn,ine, n arurt an I lid:. it, and flied iy pulls the
impreaden with )11.4 °WTI hand. In this minute attentien
to tschnlealities, he stain reealls strongly the traditions
of the old masters, who were oft- 'me. artist, etcher, and
engraver, and not unfrequontly Rol lsmith, architect, anti
engineer to bit, and actitt.inted with evert nicety of
manipulation in thee. Tarim. profeesions. We are not-
eoite • elle that Mr. Whistler would bite t., prepare hi. one
cloves end his own colours ; hut of one thing we are
eerisin—the raeitlitv of hos pair tier would laire hini
amp,. 1....ent for doing we Au it is, he subjects hi.
p.intihrs it, oil tO an original course of treetnient, be•.:•
Mg them up in his garden to leesime sesone4 h,, wind.
. sunshine, and rain. "It takes the glom of them be t, 11.
"that obieetionthle close which puts one in mind of •
I paternity new bet"
I On one dm, of the week Me Whistlers eneettvonre to
rest from tellinr in the ',meta of perfection. Towards
noon on Sunday the attentimi of the loafers at the foot of
oil Battersea Bridee is attracted by the arrival of half-a-
deem bensomembs and two or three broushenss at the
quiet Ammo with the pretty caries and pearockdslue
doer. Then does the /leo enjev his happiests momente,
Os, Nurreonled by hit 1,14 friend and quondam neighbour,
Mr. Phil Morris, Me and Mrs. Joitilier, and a few more
working members of the art-worki, he seats himself at the
h,eakfast.table in the blue chamber. As an American his
idea of breakfast Ia (tenacious; an an artist hi• conception
of its equipage is elexant and originel. G4d and silver
fish play at hide-and-seek among the flowers and greases
which hid! fill • superb Nankin beet, and everywhere
there is the scent of rose and clematis. The most
courteous and vivacious cf men, the host is only •
dormatist on ouesubject—be insists upon hi•guesta eating
buckwheat cake*, Bee ,kfaat over. an adjournment is
moved to the painting.room. where several harmonise are
in prop-eta. As we are admiring and criticising—very
freely, by the way—it Weenies evident that our host,
flattere4 and delighted by the colom bernionie• exhibited
in the dress of • fair aide, haa fixed up ea her as the
Iphigenia of the morning. After a p rettetion And
expentulation, the runt is indorsed to Twee, and then Mr.
Whistler performs what Mr. Plill Morro desienates one
lel his "rapid acts of palatine. Me entire apparatus is
on a large Belle. Hi. palette is a teble. Ibis hrusbee are
more like three of a house-painter than of an &Aid. With
extraordinary rapidity, without sketehing any outline, he
throws, as it were, the harkeround on the mums
a. if the figure were rather the accident than the
motive of the dotty. Then, beginning at the bottom
lof the robe, he proceeds to paint his figure
it wards, as • ',Witter buil,ls up his model in clay, bit by
Irt from the hose. While literally "dashing In' his
Pewee. the painter is a study in
work • free& cooped.
himself—of combined °lentil and pirates' activity. The
pace is tremendous, the face and head being Painted
await as rapidly as the fringe of the rubs. At the end
of an hour and a half there is a picture, susceptible, of
course, of being piloted over and finished toast unlimited
erten; ; bet in Its prevent condition a perfect picture
enough, conveying as ptecise an idea of the figure,
carriage, fascism and diameter of the oripnal as did the
wonderful pertrait of Mr. Carlyle. exhibited at the
Grosvenor Gallerv.

A BARONET'S CAREER ON THE TURF.
Sir Uharles Nugent, Bait , formerly of the 17th
Lancers, and now residing at &Arlington Hall,
Leicestershire, came before the Registrar (Mr.
Ingram) at the Leicester County Court for public
examination in his bankruptcy. In answer to Mr.
Owston, the trustees solicitor, the bankrupt stated
that the statement of his affairs showed his liabilities
to be about £12.000, and his assets at something like
no. His family seat was in Westmeath, Ireland.
and the estate oonsistei of Balliniongh Castle and a
considerable quantity of land, the rent-roll of which
was about £6OOO per annum. Notwithstanding that
ttie estate was encumbered, luvl he not dippe I into it
before he came of age he would have had £2,500 a.
year. When he came of are, eleven years ago he
borrowed £lO,OOO to pay off his debts, but he began
to spend this before he paid off anything. He
borrowed sumo of several thousands from different
people, and eventually he found himself with debts to
the extent of £40,000 or £5O 000, and he was so pressed
that he could not get a shilling. He then conveyed
all his life-interest in the estate to his mother, on con-
dition that she took all the debts and gave him •
£l,OOO. He got rid of his debts a tnehow, but he
am nut know exactly how. He married in 1871, and
Lady Nugent's relatives wished him to keep clear, but
other debts were contracted, and altogether Mr.
Walker, his father-In-law, had paid £40,000 for him.
In 1863 he got rid of about 1,8 000 loan debts, by pay-
ing 10s, in the pound, but he paid really more than
had been lent. He biia kept racehorses, and some-
times would be concern d in seven or right. He did
not find this profitable, and he bet upon the turf over
£60,000, and it cost him a great deal more by borrow-
ing at high rates of interest—sometimes 50 and 60 per
cent. Now, his liabilities were about £12.000, and the
property to be divided among the creditors was valued
at £2O, and he did not think they would even get that.
He attributed his debts to Leer' on the turf, and
through being security for a good many people. He
had been responsible for lie brother for between
£2,003 and 0.000, while Sir Mint. Townsend Farqu-
harson, who is now dead. owed him £9 000, and he had
no estate whatever. He frequented races, and had
many times lost as much as £5.000 at ones. The bank-
rupt was examined as to a great many debts which he
had contracted with several people. His incapacity
to pay his debts was owing to losses on the turf asid
liabilities incurred generally out of mere kindness to
those who were not worth befriendi,g. He could
make no suggestion whatever as to the liquidation of
these debts.—Mr. Owston said the bankrupt appeared
to have recklessly incurred debts, after being relieved
entirely by his father-in-law, and he now came seeking
the protection of the court without showing any
assets whatever for his creditors. He made no offer,
and the only account which he gave of himself was a
very disreputable one. It would be more satisfactory
before the bankrupt was allowed to pass that he should
give a better account of what he had done with the
mo4y. It was evident from the fact of several proofs
of debts having come in since the bsnkruptcy that
the bankrupt had not disclosed the whole state of
affairs.—The Registrar said the bankrupt had been
most reckless, and his conduct throughout most re
prehensible ; but there was evidently nothinz to he
derived from the estate for the benefit of the creditors,
and no benefit would result, so far as he could see,
from the examination being prolonged. He would
therefore be allowed to pm*.

SPE/LYING—OF CILIMMANI3 'WIRE WIIIRT
FLOUR. A writer ie tbs Okriotirs World says
a the first phy.leisns of ibis day are prescribing no oilier
stediels• for thrir IttU. patients, sad ft is astonishing
socasaisaes bow children who have pined on a dist of fine
white baker's breed, will thrive what fed on well cooked
=suds of this "Padre Wheat Flour." Sold
fa N. awl la wail% eadlia thu.