Worcester morning daily spy. (Worcester, Mass.) 1888-1898, 1898-01-16
JAMES A. McNE111 WHISTLER.
fFrom Harpers Meeklvl


Very rare is the artist with personah-
ty so strong and so individual in Its
expression that the accident of his dom
icile counts for nothing. But such Is
one James Mcneil whistler He is en-
inently a cosmopolitan in art, 1t may
count for a good deal that he Is a SON
Of Massachusetts,, for something that he
was educated at West Point, and stud
led art under Gleyre in Paris, but ap-
parently for nothing that his manhood
has been divided between London and
Paris. They have not influenced him
1t is in the direction of Velasquez and
Japanese art that one must look for
sources of amy outside impressions. But
for the most part his work whether
in oil, water color, pastel, crayon, or
etching, reflects one Whistler.
His is a personality Of extraordinary
interest, exhausting a whole gamut OF
characteristics, from deyiltry up to sub
TEST spirituality. Perhaps the simplest
analysis of this complex equipment Is
to regard 1t as a dual nature, compound
ed of the artist and the man. The real
Whistler is the artist, made known by
his works; the man Of the world. the
oynic wit and caustic writer, is the
artificial shell which surrounds the 9TH
er. It is not unusual to find man or
tenderest emotions erecting around
them q brea stwork of coarser mateI1aI
to keep an unsympathetic world from
prying too freely upon his secret self
whistler had much need of self-protec-
ton. That part Of him which true
man in any walk of life holds most sa-
cred, his ideal, was one that very rev
at hrst could understand He had no
one to interpret him, as RusNn oao
Turner, and a sensitive man cannot IN
terpret himself. So he met the 1dicule
ana satire Of the world not by sulking
or bowling to it, but with the world
own weapons, only that In his hands
they were more finely tempered.
The difficulty of approaching most OF
Whistaer's work is due to our tendency
to try to translate all art into words.
'sW-hat is it all about-wshat does II
mean?'' But we do not ask such cues
tfons about a delicious scent, whtch
| makes a subtle appeal to our sense OF
smell; nor of one of Chopin's nocturnes,
| which speaks directly to our ear in ITS
own language Why, then, may not q
PAINTER blend color, as a musician
| blends sounds, to express somecning
which cannot be adequately put INTO
words, and call it, for lack Of better
| term, a symphony III OolOl VI 49,
| his eolors in that mysterious luminous
shade night filings over nature, ana call
it a nocturne? We enjoy the fragrance
Of the scent without putting It INTO
words-why may not our sense on eaenr
be delighted by abstract colors3 II we
cannot always feel this delight 1t may
be due to want of color-training on OF
the habit of feeling color in the aostract,
and the painter is entitled to the benefit
Of the doubt.
The strangest thing is that critics
were slow to see the beauty of his etch-
ings. Perhaps 1t was because they were
not finished pictures in the popular
sense, and 50 the artist seemed poser
or a trifier But Whistler does not pro-
pose to himself the making Of pictures
In the ordinary occupation of the term
Color and line and form are to him the
means Of expressing some beauty that
he sees or inag1nes; and Just as man
who has an absolute command OF WORDS
knowing not only their value but their
Limitations, will be satisfied to make MS
utterance suggestive, when more elas-
i boration would only render 1t invo1Veo'
40 Whistlen's rule is: Never carry q
medium further than it will CO.. HIS
later etchings have comparatively rev
lines. but each one epitomizes the oD-
servation and experience OF years OF
study. and the spectator must be want
ing in inlaEination who cannot feel tne
atmosphere or distance or Whatever y
is which the line was meant TO Suggest