New-York tribune., 1908-10-07
Mr. Otto Bacher's Memories
UbistIer IN Venices

graphs by the author, ito, PIP. XIII, ZSo i
Century Company.
This volume contains some interesting SOU
venirs of an important period in Whistlers hie'
Mr. Bacher, young artist working at e"'e0
in the SOS under Frank Duveneck, was fortunate
enough to attract yhistIers special attention.
He YVES producing etchings and had his own
press with him This made the distinguishes
American curious and presently he and bachei
were on very good terms. Their frlefoshlp ap
pears TO have remained untroubled inr'us :.
many years. Even when Mr.. Bacher eAhiol'eo
some of his prints under auspices "hlch '"
Ter disapproved. the latter overlooked 'iie s"'0
fault This book is written with abunoah' 10y :
atty. and though the author hardly neeoeu 10
mention that he had lent money to MS irienu
his recollections are otherwise In gooo tas'e
Taken together they give US vivid impression
of Whistler's original and picturesque person
ality.
He was wont to talk very freely with his
young admirer He confessed 10 the black eye
which he received in a tussie with the captain
of the vessel on which he made his famous
VOYAGE TO Valparaiso and he confirmed, too
the story of his encounter with Seymour Haden
in a Paris cafe YES" he said I'VE fought
let me tell you about it. He got my head unuer
his arm and began punching me in the face' ana
then I pushed him through the window. HIS
pugnacfty and his whimsical hauteur are
brought out more than once by Mr.. Bacher. lie
is portrayed as generally good humored and
charming with Duvenech's boys, but as a man
more or less detached from his surroundings
and reserved even when seemingly intimate
We gather that he made constant use of quaint
mode of address. Speaking, for example. Of his
nlan TO do The Traghetto" all over again, he
would say, 'T wonder how Whistler can get the
H. Of Whistler
must find some way to do. it" This was not
soIiloduv He would talk thus face to face with
his interloclltor once he found Mr.. Bacher at
work at a certain bridge. He joined him, say
ing. This is a good subject. When you find
one like this you should not do it, but come and
tell Whistler" The book contains many similar
anecdotes, and the author sheds new light on
some old Whistlerian stories. There is the
familiar tale of his leaning out of his window
at Venice making hook out of pin and catch
ing all the goldfish in a globe on the sill beneath
hin, Then as the story runs. he fried the fish
and lowered them back into the globe Mr.
Racher repeats the anecdote at length, as he
had if from Whstlers own lips, and the hero
of II is Frenchman, who played the prank in
Paris
While Mr.. Bacher tells US much that is anus
ing he is careful also to speak of the serious
side of his subject and here in fact. he has
some valuable notes He closely observed Whist
1ers artistic methods, especially in the field Of
etching, and describes them in pages of deep in
terest to the student of technique. Also he
quotes some Of his friends sayings on old and
modern masters. follows:
His favorite themes were the old Venetian paint
ers ''Canaletto" he said, could paint white
building against white cloud dat was eRongh eai
of TntcTetto. one day we were visiting the Scn9la
eased high up in the walls. He climbed up with
great difficulty in order to get close look at the the
over it perhaps because it coincided well with his
g Fsq great s%es Once or twice he spoke Of
the Barbizon school and particularly OF Gorot
Enthusiastic on the subject in speaking OF certain
things of Corots, he remarked They've been done
/ objected to that. saving ''who did them?"
whistler he observed
At the moment this struck me as a piece of
whimsicaty but afterwaId. when | saw certain
Tas T1lsS some MDa basis for it.
Misheangeio he considered too much given to
contortion in his masterpieces As he recalled the
figure of Night" in the Medici Chapel, he distort
sdvings sd R1se re recall these Tee Should not be
painted You cannot paint the sun You can
IsntnF n9 ad' the 5e VeTGs de Milo? paint should not
be applied thick II t. should be liz Ike fts breath n on the ne
Fantin I4atour. whose work he seemed to like very
much. especially his autographs
The numerous Illustrations in Mr.. Bacher's
book consist of excellent reproductions in half
tone of some Of Whistler's etchings and litho
graphs A number of the authors own clever
plates are also given. and there are one or two
letters in facsimile. The text is handsomely
printed. with very wide margins. and the bind
ing is Of delicate design in brown and gold with
the celebrated butterfly effectively introduced.
Collectors OF whsteriana will appreciatively
add this TO their rapidly mounting store Of
books relating &c their hero.
The light and entertaining manner in which
Mr.. H Noel Williams has written his memoirs
Of different ladies famous in the old court life
of France has made him notably successful
among the recent authors of this kind of liter
ature His pages are not only amusing but they
are well filed with facts. a circumstance which
has commended them to those who enjoy extra
illustrating" works Of biography. Some of his
books in the luxurious quartos in which they
were first printed, have proved so popular that
if is said they have gone TO a premium in the
market Evidently. then Mr.. Williams is
author to be reprinted The Scribners have
inst imported a new and revised edition of his
Madame de Pompadour." in convenient
tavo having for frontispiece good reproduc-
ton of Boucher's beautiful portrait This is one
of the best productions In the series made by Mr..
Williams. and it is pleasant TO have it made
more generally accessible.
A witty and q charming book Is "Cupid's Al
rnanac and Guide to Hearticulture," which has
been compiled for D. Cupid by John Cecil
Clay and Oliver Herford. and is published
by the Houghtons. Everything about the
book, including the slip cover" which gives us
a glimpse Of a pretty portrait of Cupid on the
binding should endear it TO those who ad-