AND IMPRESSINS OF JAMES A. McNeil WHISTLER BY ARTHUR JEROME EDDY AUTHOR OF AELIGHT THE SOUL OF ART. ETC. PHILADELPHIA LONDON J. B LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 1904 COPYRIGHT, 1903 BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY Published December, 1903 Electrotyped and Printed by J. S. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U. S. A. To L. O. E. This Sixteenth Day of September Nineteen Hundred and Three FOREWORD MOST of what is contained herein has been col lected from time to time within the past ten years and jotted down for use in certain lectures on Whistler and his art The lectures were, as is this book, a tribute to the great painter. The reminiscences are mostly personal. Many of the anecdotes though perhaps equally familiar to others were had from the artists own lips. The views concerning his art, whether right or wrong, were formed while watching him at work day after day, and after many interviews in which, now and then, he would speak plainly concerning art. At the same time not so much as a thought must be attributed to him unless expressly quoted. The biographical data just sufficient to furnish a connecting thread and aid in the appreciation have been gathered from casual sources, and are, no doubt, subject to incidental corrections. Only when a duly authorized life and letters is published by those who have access to the material that must exist will the great artist be known by the world as he really was a profoundly earnest, serious, loving, and lovable man. Meanwhile, those who believe in his art must like the writer speak their convictions for what they are worth. 7 CONTENTS I PACK Why he never Returned to America Tariff on Art South America Valparaiso ………. 15 II A Family of Soldiers Grandfatherfounded Chicago Birth St. Petersburg West Point Coast Survey His Military Spirit …………. 25 III An American The Puritan Element Attitude of Eng land and France Racial and Universal Qualities in Art Art-Loving Nations ………. 47 IV Early Days in Paris and Venice Etchings, Lithographs, and Water-Colors Propositions and Ten oClock …., …, . …….. 79 V Chelsea The Royal Academy Portrait of His Mother Carlyle Grosvenor Gallery The Peacock Room Concerning Exhibitions … 109 VI The Ruskin Suit Hi Attitude towards the World and towards Art The Gentle Art of Making Ene mies Critics and Criticism ……… 140 9 CONTENTS VII PAGE Supreme as a Colorist Color and Music His Suscepti bilty to Color Ruskin and Color Art and Nature 1 73 VIII The Royal Society of British Artists In Paris once more At Home and at Work 217 IX Portrait-Painting How he Differed from his Great Predecessors The Likeness Composition of Color No Commercial Side Baronet vs. Butterfly 244 X The School of Carmen In Search of Health Chelsea once more The End 277 Index 289 10 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE WHISTLER Frontispiece. From a sketch by Raj on CREPUSCULE IN FLESH COLOR AND GREEN VALPA RAISO 22 HARMONY IN GRAY AND GREEN. PORTRAIT OF Miss ALEXANDER 50 THE LANGE LEIZEN OF THE Six MARKS PURPLE AND ROSE 58 PLATE MADE WHILE IN THE EMPLOY OF THE GOVERN MENT AT WASHINGTON, 1854-55 … .88 ARRANGEMENT IN GRAY AND BLACK. PORTRAIT OF THE PAINTERS MOTHER 114 ARRANGEMENT IN BLACK. LA DAME AU BRODE QUINE JAUNE 120 ARRANGEMENT IN GRAY AND BLACK. PORTRAIT OF THOMAS CARLYLE 122 NOCTURNE, BLACK AND GOLD. THE FALLING ROCKET 140 BLUE AND SILVER BLUE WAVE, BIARRITZ . . 174 LITTLE ROSE, LYME REGIS 274 SYMPHONY IN WHITE, No. II. THE LITTLEWHITE GIRL - - 282