New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-18

Z
! rosite when he brought in my bill. were TO say,
/ Your little account. Sir James" once, at
! least. he tried 10 play the sportsman. IN
fortunately he did not hit the bird he shot at
lie hit his hosts favorite dog instead.
Mr.. Menpes quotes several OF whistlers opin-
. ions on artistic matters. He patroniZed Raphael
as the smart young man of his day" and con-
cluded that the italian master did not count
Turner he called a man struggling with the
wrong medium He ought not TO have painted.
he should nave written" and. turning his back
upon row Of Turner's pictures, he murmured,
What a series of accidents" The English
school of the eighteenth century, Romney,
Gainsborough and Reynolds, he would not toll
crate at all. Once he was persuaded to stop In
front of a Constable. Yes he said thought
fully what an athletic gentleman he must have
been.' Canoletto he admired immensely as
man who was absolutely master OF his ma
terials Tor Velasquez Of course. he en-
thusastic. Here is another good workman"
he would say; che. too knew his trade and his
tools. place him upon the same plane as Cam
oetto The two men run side by side. Their
works are equally fine" Rembrandt appealed to
him only through his technical deXterity Look
ing at portrait by the Dutchman he said: Its
gummy. 1t has a gummy, what you call fat,
Juicy quality about it that don't like" Though
vain enough about his own achievements. he
were based. Once he unbent and dscOursed TO
Mr. Menpes and to Mr.. Walter Sickert. another
pupil:
He described how. in Venice. once he was draw
ing bridge. and suddenly, as though in a revela-
that he wanted to keep it to himself, lest some
g bs should s r6g gf how T@s fo Sqb sT Began
first OF all by Selling upon the chief point OF IN
distance-the little palaces and the shtppins be
meath the bridge. II so. would begin drawing
hat list in ella lOI falV ans her X
pand from it until / came to the bridge which |
did not see the whole OF the bridge. I would not
put II in. In this way the picture must necessarily
one were TO be arrested in the middle of it. it
would s;ill be fine and complete picture
Some technical details the constituents OF his
palette, the preparation of his backgrounds. and
so on. set forth. He held his brush firmly
and pressed hard on the canvas. There was no
dainty touch about Whistler's handling. lie
worked in clean and firm sweeps. Every
thing he used in his painting was colossal
brushes. canvases. and table for n palette.
Carlyle. when he was being painted was very
much impressed with the outfit. You are In
deed a workman he said: your tools are the
tools Of the workman" Mr.. Menpes has other
things TO tell which deserve quotation. There
are the notes on Whistler's physical encounters
with his enemies; there the stories of his
earlier days in Paris; there is the anecdote Of
his conflict with a certain unsympathetic auc-
tioneer. But we must be content with the tale
Of the famous peacock room in AIR. Leylands
house. Mr.. Menpes had 1t from the artists own
lips:
He described picture of hts own-a picture of a
japanese girl. rather bright in color. which had
been hung in Leyland's dining room room very
felt that the Spanish leather was not in harmony
with his picture; it too low in tone: and he
color here and there, tighten the leather and
bTlng the room more IN sympathy with ms picture
He locked himself in, and hogan tightening the
leather with Antwerp blue and gold The leather
IN tone. until at last Whistler told Leyand that he
felt Il necessary to clear the field for action, and
for month and not come near the room until the
alterations We're quite completed, wgFi4g that
gether with a pupil who acted as assistant set 70
Mpoh Books of gold leaf to smother the spanish
leather all over. A. moments they worked so fran
hair became Filded gold settled on their faces and
IN their lungs: they choked and sneezed and could
walls, quite ohliteTatng the leather; and into tho
and so on. until in the end the room was one Elor
simmer Of gold and blue intermingled. "A very
g04a peeoGhS On nue a and neacorl'
IeyIand turned up suddenly at a moment when
the room was half finished and in state OF Wild
disorder and insisted upon seeing IT, Whistler for
bade him; but Leyland stole in surreptiti"usly one
on the threshold aghast. His rage knew bounds.
and he demanded Of Whistler what he had done
with his Spanish leather. which had cost him so
many hundreds of pounds. Whistler turned his
face. half covered with gold and blue paint. and
surveyed Leyland critically Your Spanish
leather he said. lis beneath my peacocks; and
excellent ground. too. IT formed 20 paint them
on" Ieyland furious. In what sum was he
indebted 10 Whistler for having wrecked his dining
room? "A thousand Euineas,' promptly replied
Whistler NO said Ieyland: II shall give you
only thousand pounds To this Whistler made
no reply. but simply stipulated that ne should be
allowed 10 finish the decoration Of the room. Ley
land was once turned out. and the Master
completed his operations. painting upon the last
remaining wall caTicature OF himself and Leyland
in the form Of peacocks. one with It's body
snlotEered IN golden sovereigns. and on the floor
a mass silver Shillirgs. and the other prancing
and triumphant. Thus the story OF the econ
omy Of the odd shillings recorded for all time.
This book IS entertaining. ii contains so
much piquant information. that II Is tolcrably
certain to go into a second edition. When this
occurs Mr.. Menpes would do well to overhaul
his proofs. On page 10 Degas is four times
spelled ''Digars." and on page % there is a ref
erence to Irving as Charles 1 which should be
Irving as Philip OF SPAIN