The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-14
THE FEMINlNITY OF WHISTLER

It was the gift or the ugly oio tary'
the one unlimited to the christening.
In q spirit of mischief she endowed MN
with q feminine turn Of mind. Whether
In bestowing this delicate attention she
has cursed or blest him most will re-
main a mooted question. However that
may be, throughout his life he has
eyinced in marked degree O curious
duality Of temperament, displaying It
self in his artistic expression as well as
in his personal characteristics.
These last appear a strange mixture
Of incongruous elements. With certain
qualities Of character which tend TO
make q man strongest are blended otn-
ers which one would expect to find only
in q weak coquette given over to
whimsical triviality and inordinate
vanity. OF undeniable courage, with
sufficient strength Of purpose to re-
main true to his convictions in spite
of years of opposition, ridicule and
neglect; having positive genius for
hard work, in which he was simple,
sincere and direct; yet at the same time
he was tickle, full Of caprice, spent
long hours wrangling over tribes. was
insincerely witty and intensely vain.
Picture for yourself a creator of mas
terpieces. tremendously got-up, walk
ing the streets to enjoy the admiration
which his brave attire. graceful figure
and jaunty carriage elected from the
crowd. Sometimes he would paint his
face, or indulge q fancy for long suede
gloves. A single lock Of white hair
amid his abandoned tresses gave an
accent, as 1t were. to the tout ensemble
The edge Of his tongue was very keen.
And with reason. He kept IT so con-
stantly whetted on the foibles Of his
friends. The little things he got of
were often rather good. He thought SO
himself and cherished them fondly.
Swift and dire revenge overlook the
misguided Individual who dared plagi-
arze a whistler joke. Disputes over
the ownership Of these Jokes were IA
vorite form Of creation with him. i
Dispute, however, was dear to him
for its own sweet sake. and. though
no coward. he preferred wordy en-
ly weapons. What matter that his
logic might be weak, his conclusions
not derivable from his premises? He
always had the last word and with that
do you not invariably issue triumph
ant from the fray? And the past mas
ter in the Gentle Art Of Making Enc
mics" never doubted his Victories. I'm
fortunately the outcome was not always
30 clear to his opponents. Poor Mr..
Ruskini I fancy he never quite knew
what stung him. For not infrequently
the butterfly was metamorphosed into
O wasp.
But metamorphoses Of various sorts
were necessity to q creature of whims
and caprices. Joke-like this modern
demi- god found them easy Of accom-
plishment, both Of person and of thing.
You all remember the famous peacock
dining room affair. And / should like
to ask, II not to James McNeill Whist.
ler, to whom but q woman would the
idea occur Of changing an entire and
already beautiful room to suit . single
OF his disloyalty. petty revengeful-
ness and other unpleasant traits we
shall not speak. Mention OF them
would be painful and already they are
written down In the Book Of the But
terfly.
But, II then, this spirit Of femininity
which possessed him appears to make
the man q creature to be laughed at,
disdained and contemptuously pitied,
on the other. In an appreciable degree,
II has helped to make the artist the
most personal and original Of his time.
In the first place, like q woman. he
has vast powers Of assimilation. So
thoroughly has he made his own the
vital secrets OF both western and east
ern art that those critics who talk OF
the influence upon him OF Velasquez
and thu japanese might find some
difficulty II attempting to prove their
case.
He sees nature III q novel manner.
The exceeding refinement Of his artis-
tic temperament causes him to avoid
anything material, gross, or ugly, His
highly nervous faculties, the sensitive
ness Of his vision recsivs the most deli
cate impressions OF those phases Of ma
ture which he chooses to observe. And
what he has seen hs renders with Q sim
plicity ~ mysterious asait 10 effective.
His processes are not to be explsiped.
They sssm 70 bs arrived st by Instinct.
Hs n kssply alive te ~ most exquisite