New-York tribune., 1910-09-25

,lyrna in his hlack halr- but WIKI bis
-ri5e went. naturally, a certain sensi-
,,reness. He wanted his little tuft of
rrrite treated with respect; as a flag.
7, vas sacred: as the white flag was to
,he Camte de Chambord- Most people
-oenec+ed Nhistlers wish. but not all.
vent one day 10 a lunch given by a
lsd,- whom her friends set up as a rival
.. Mrs Isnc-ry 1t was a large party.
when the ladies went up stairs most of
.be mon were hidden by their hostess 70
follow as soon as the first cigarette had
haen smoked Whistler was not told: on
she contrary a man was asked to hold
tsr, ;n talk for ten minutes Once in the
drawing room. the hostess produced a
number Of white feathers. one of which
she fastened into each mans hair. in
front. where Whistler wore his Then
she r7lsrshalled her men in line. facing
the door. and sent word TO Whistler in
she dining room that he was staying a
5cnv time and she would like him TO
rome NJ. lie obeyed and when he opened
the door Of the drawing room found
himself confronted with line Of black
haired men. each decorated with white
plurne I'm imitation Of his own His face
turned rcd and then pale. He walked
sloDlv past the line to the end where
stood his hostess enjoying what she
.hourht an innocent plGisdnterie. But
v-hjstler-s expression had in it much
more Of ira ge6y tran Of comedy. "Ah,
YES he said. very pretty. very pretty.
indeed. To not one Of you viii I ever
sneak again" With that he turned his
hack on his hostess and her guests, and
marched out Of the room. and down
stairs. and out Of the house. But his
auger did not last
This was the lady whom 1 once be
held conversing long at an evening party
with Mr.. Bernal Osborne. When they
pa-ted said to Mr.. Osborne:
You seem TO admire Mrs. X
Yes. do. and / should admire her
rtflI more II while she is talking to me
she would not make eyes at the footman
over my shoulder
I repeated this to whistler, who re-
.Tied instantly:
Yes. very good. very good. But il
vas I who said it
He made an extraordinary use Of his
imagination 1t affected all his relations
'u life It affected his views Of art. quite
naturally but also his views OF property
IN art. OF in his own art. He held, in at
least one case. that q picture he had
painted and sold and been paid for was
stin his picture TO do as he liked with
He said:
How can an artist divest himself Of
q,
work into which he has put all his
genius all his art. all mis- personality:
himself. in fact?-'
And upon that he acted. I never
doubted he was sincere. He could look
~ such a question from his own point Of
Wow and from no other. Whistler. like
another eminent American. might well
have SAID:
The essence Of any struggle for
healthy liberty has always been and
must always he 70 take from some one
man or class Of men the right TO enjoy
power. or wealth. or position, or i'm
munity. which has not been earned by
service 20 his OF their fellows"
Sir William Eden. in whistler's view.
Rad not earned" the picture Of Lady
Eden merely by paying for it, The right
- property was inherent in the creator
of the picture But both these doc
7rines. which are complementary. are a
little subversive Of those on which So
Ciety is founded.
Not less characteristic Of Whistler is
another incident which befen in my
hearing al dinner He told US the story
after the ladies had left.
II did not like 10 tell il while those
lovely creatures were here. for it is not
80 he repeated just vet. and though they
are lovely. or perhaps because they are
lovely they viii gossip
He then explained that he had long
wished 70 paint the portrait Of Mr.. Dis
raeH. After trying in vain TO get an in
PRODUCTION he had obtained letter from
great friend of the Prime Minister and
gore down 30 Hughenden with il:
Tt WAS not the season when the
Trin1roscs We're coming out. which
Dizzy said he had never been able to
Ere because politics kept him at that
time i'm London. His saying that was
ono o. the reasons which made me want
70 paint him. 7 vas told that after
luncheon would be a good time to catch
him walking in the park. I had no
great faith in my letter: at any rate, I
was resolved 10 meet him face TO face.
end found 4 back gate into the grounds
near the house: slipped IN and waited"
He went on 90 tell US at greater length
Than I can quote how at last the great
man appeared. and how when Whistler
approached him. letter in hand. he said:
No 7 want no letter. You are Whistler
end I am glad 10 see you. I suppose
1ou wish 70 do my portrait There was
"a conversation which lasted many min
Utes. and ended by DisraeIi assuring
Whistler he could give him sittings. but
could not then fix the dates. They
parted on the friendliest terms.
We al listened with delight. The
artist MAS vivid. dramatic, picturesque.
and gave us there and then a portrait Of
Dsraeli ard of his manner of speech
and gesture that was lifelike. His mar
'aiirc lasted altogether some twenty
minutes and ended by fresh caution
10 al cf as to keep his secret. which we
az promised.
u Mas a romance from beginning TO
md Nobody had given him a letter 10
Ipr~anf 10 had pe,-or y,,o. DiSraelf