The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-05-25
Frederic Haslin's Letter
Wlistlev Returns to Warrington

ular legend. This is really NOR.
important to . mans fame than i.
his work. Pos. Of all great Amer.
leans in the fine arts, is the b..
known because Of the picturesous
and sensational qualities of his liz
Whistler does not seem to have
shared Poe's taste for red liouor
and sad love affairs, but he was
born fighter. All his life he fought
with his tongue. his pen. in the
courts, and with his fists. HIs
fighting is . mystery. His art was
supremely serene and restrained
but his personality was aggressive
and explosive. He came on His
fathers side of a military family
and the love OF battle for its own
sake may have been in his blood
Sometimes his fighting suggests
this. He seemed to need it as a
stimulus. When a man died whom
he had long wrangled with, Whist
Ter lamented him:
Missed His Enemies.
"Tommy's dead" he incurred
"I'm lonesome. They are all dying
I have hardly a warm personal
enemy left"
In all of his battles, verbal and
otherwise, Whistler seems to have
come off we'll. Stott. a fellow art.
list much larger than himself, in
suited him in London club. Both
OF them published their versions of
the encounter in the newspapers.
Stott's version was yelled and
evasive, but Whistler's was highly
specific.
1.-THE incident closed" he wrote
"by = kick administered on part
of Mr.. Stott's body that was final
ly turned toward me, and that |
leave him to specify"
Much of his sarcasm was un-
doubleday a defence against bores
and presumptuous persons. Thus
a lady who had just returned from
a trip on the Thames, assured
Whistler that the scenery was "a
perfect series of Whistlers."
Eyes, I dare say" the artist re-
piled, Mature is creeping up"
Oscar Wilde he long and glee-
fully pursued in the public prints.
When Wilde invited Whistler to his
wedding, the artist sent telegram:
Fear l may not be able to reach
you in time for the ceremony. Don't
wait"
F.! Wilde was always repeating
Whistler's clever remarks as his
own. One day. referring to some
epigram OF Whistler's, Wilde said:
How l wish l had said that"
"You will, Oscar" Whistler assur-.
ed him.
The whole story of his many
battles is set forth in that remark
able book made from his letters
and sayings and known as The
Gentle Art Of Making Enemies The
book reveals strange and formid-'
able personality. 1t pictures a man
of the keenest wit and intelligence,
cool, self-confident, impudent, con-
temptuous, who went out of his
way to insult men and who never
apologized. This impression is tenn
pered, it is true, by his known de-
votion to a few friends, and his
gentleness with women. But the es-
sential man, the artist, was evident
ly a kernel of which his social per-
| sonality was the all-enclosing husk.
The real man, serene and harmon
ious, was in his pictures. His fav--
!, orite subject was night and the
charm which it held for him he
beautifully expressed in his fam
Gus 10 o'clock lecture:
&C.. the evening mist clothes the
riverside with poetry. as with veil,
and the poor buildings lose them
selves in the dim sky, and the tall
chimneys become campanili, and
the warehouses are palaces in the
night, and the whole city hangs in.
the heavens, and fairyland is be-
fore u.s."