New-York tribune., 1903-07-26
WHISTLER.
anecdotes and RecOllecti0ns of a
Great artist.

which he found as much pleasure as ne gave 10
his readers, he paid his satirical compliments to
the critics who could not understand why he
called his works symphonies" arrangements"
'7sarmonies' and "nocturnes" L know" he
went on that many good people think my
nomenclature funny and myself eccentric
Yes eccentric is the adjective they find for
me-" That adjective found for him long
before he wrote the words just quoted, which
were first published In 1878 He was consid-
cred eccentric when he was young man in
the studio of Gleyre, and he was considered so
down to the day of his death. Yet the Whistler
of fact was not altogether like the Whistler of
legend If he eccentric and pOseur, if he
was fond of talking for effect, and willing, on
occasion, to sacrifice friend merely for the
pleasure OF making epigram, there was, at
all events a fine consistency about his char
acter He never pretended to be anything save
what he was; he exposed his foibles to the
world with the most charming candor, and the
war he waged against the Philistines in his
youth he waged long as he lived. He was a
man who conveyed at the outset an unsatls-
factory impression, and ended by endearing him
self to you as one of the most delightful of
human beings-when he did not happen to end
by transforming friend into an enemy.
The first time 1 saw him, in his studio in the
Rue de Bac, he entered the room at a mincing
gait carrying a straw hat in one hand and a
bird cage in the other. AS he moved about,
talking at the top of his shri voice, he seemed
anything but embodiment of artistic great
ness Half an hour later, when he had got rid
Of the bird cage and the hat, and had subsided
into chair, ones first impression wore off, and
in every succeeding encounter with him it re-
ceded further and further into obscurity. He
has been accused of thinking, and talking, eter-
nally of himself. in season and out OF season
fs Fbo dofa ahOIIf hid tort 70 tha
admrer who coupled his name with that of the
great Spanish master-"Why drag in Velas-
quez?" Scores OF other anecdotes commemorate
his vanity. In that illbred and cowardly pas
sage which Du Maurier introduced into 'Trilby,"
TO his lasting shame, attacking his old comrade
under the name OF Joe Sibley he said of Whist
Ter that The a monotheist, and had but one
god" and continued: For forty years the
mopoIite Joe has been singing his gods
praises in every tongue he knows and every
country-and also his contempt for all rivals to
this godhead-whether quite sincerely not,
who can say? Mems motives are so mixed"
But even Du Maurer has 10 confess, in this self
same passage (Which. by the way. it will be re-
called that he had to withdraw that Whistler
did this so eloquently, wittily, so prettily
that he almost persuades you to be a fellow
worshipper." The truth is that Whistler had a
way with him that made it impossible for any
one who knew him well to resent his vanity.
Writing to an old friend from Ajaccio, where
he had gone early in the winter of 1901 to mend
his health, he said: You Will be surprised at
this present address. But it's all right-'Na-
poleOn and l. you know" During the occupa-
ton of Paris by the allied troops, the Duke of
Wellington lived in the Palace of Napoleon and
in a note to Admiral Malcolm, at St Helena, he
said: You may tell 'BOny' that l find his apart
ments at the Elysee Bourbon very convenient
and that l hope he likes mine at Mr.. Balcom's
1t is a droll sequel enough to the affairs of
Europe that should change places Of resi-
dence." Could any with sense of humor
accuse Wellington of being coossally conceted
because he liked his little joke? Whistler al
ways liked his little joke. In another letter to
the same friend. alluding to some document re-
lating to his own work, he says: Il should be
much interested in all that concerns myself. Of
course" and speaking of a public official with
whom he had had some legal transactions, he
remarks: Say that I know how devotedIy
kind he has been in his care Of me- but the care
of the State overwhelmed him. You cannot
serve the republic and Whistler!
Once when stranger. through a mutual friend
tried to obtain his autograph, he persuaded
the go-between to write this note to the ap-
plicant:
Dear Sir: 1 saw Mr.. Whistler the other day
In Bond-st. on the opposite pavement and held
up your letter. He replied by producing a dozen
of the kind from his pocket, but has since sent
no signature.