The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1914-02-12
WHISTLER STORIES
Audacity and Sarcasm Of the &c.
centric Genius.
THE FAMOUS PEACOCK ROOM

"J'mmie's" ofhand Hospitality, At HE
Patron's Expense, While Decorating
IT, the Clash tt Led to and the Way
the Artist Squared Accounts.
In Mrs. Alec Tweedies Thirteen
Years Of Busy Woman's Life" she
tells this story Of Whistler, which she
heard ut first hand:
The famous peacock room at
Princes Gate was q wonderful scheme
OF decoration. peacock's eyes ON q gold
ground being its principal motif. About
the year 1880 the late MIR. Leyland,
wealthy shipowner and patron of the
arts. had taken this grand new man.
sion and asked Whistler to decorate
a room. Jimmy. poor and out at el-
bows as usual. Jumped at the idea.
but no terms were fixed upon. The
work began. 1t was prodigious un-
dertaking. and the extraordinary and
erratic little man gave it his whole
time.
Being at Princes Gate all day and
having the run Of L.eyland's house.
Whistler had hospitable way Of in
viting his friends to come and see the
room and then he would ask them to
stop to luncheon. This sort Of thing.
which began occasionally. ended in
being an almost daily occurrence. and
Jimmy used to hold little levee every
morning, when three. four or five peo-
pie remained to Luncheon. This became
too much for MIR. Leyland. and his plan
for putting an end to the campaign
was a somewhat ingenious one
Jimmy one day entertained four
friends. The meal not being announc-
ed. he rang the bell for the butler.
When is lunch?' he asked.
~ have no orders for lunch.' replied
the man. with stately air.
"'Oh. no. Of course replied Jimmy.
not in the least disconnected. Wen
go along to such and such hotel
Stupid Of me to forget it,
But it was enough. and. though he
pretended not to mind and with that
delightful impudence for which he was
famous turned it of. he never forgave
the incident and determined to pay
Iayland out. From that day he took
his own lunch in little paper parcel
and sat and devoured it when SO in
clined. On the next occasion Leyland
came in to admire the peacock decora.
tons about the usual luncheon hour.
"'You will have some lunch. won't
you? Whistler said. Leyland looked
surprised.
Up jumped Jimmy. fetched his bag
and proceeded to unite his parcels. say
ing: It's all right. old chap; have no
anxiety. 1t is my lunch. not yours.
and you are heartily welcome to it.
when the work was accomplished
which had taken so long Leyland wish
ed to pay the bill and asked the artist
what was his figure. Il have worked
whole year and more Whistler said.
I consider my services are worth e.
600 year. therefore the ngure 10 e.
500. from which you can deduct the
few hundreds you have given NE on
account
''Leyland was horri6ed. 'Preposter-
ous.' he said. perfectly preposterousr
Jimmy looked at him and drew him
self up to his full height. which was
not great. 4 beg. Mr.. Leyland. that
you will accept as gift the entire
work Of my life for the last year and
quarter. can compromise nothing
"Once again Whistler scored and
I.eyland paid. Whtstler's thanks to his
patron afterward took the form Of
painting life size portrait Of him AZ
a devil with horns and hOofs."
Sir E. J. Poynter. P. r. A.. says the
New York Sun. told in an Interview
how when he was studying in Paris
for three or four years there was one
little artistic group called ''Trilby."
He says:
MY companions were Whistler. Du
Maurier. Val Prinsep. Lamont. Thorn
as and Armstrong. OF course Du
Maurier altered the thing good deal.
but his picture of studio life was in
the main truthful representation Of
our life at that time. Trilby herself.
believe. was a pure product Of the au-
thor's brain.
Az u4ouy "0yO khS AA4OSS ASA40b nal t0
man among Us was Whistler. II he
had only had energy there is no know
ing to what height he might have
scared. but he was incorrigibly lazy.
l remember visiting him once at
nursing home in Paris. He had been
working a little on study in pink
carnations. 1t was exquisite from the
extraordinary sense Of color 1t dis
played. This was bis great gift. He
excelled every painter ever known in
purity and delicacy Of coloring. He
rarely finished any work, but he loved
to pretend. Just for fun. that bis IN
finished studies were perfect works
Of genius. Then hs would chuckle
when people took him at his word and
declared that the very incompleteness
Of the sketches constituted their great
artistic merit"
.