SUNDAY LUNCH
MARCO AND I WALKED TO TATE BRITAIN ON SUNDAY, WANTING TO SEE PAINTINGS BY TURNER. THERE WEREN’T MANY PEOPLE SO WE SAW A LOT MORE
BUT YOU HAVE TO FEED THE BODY AS WELL AS THE SOUL! SO WE STAYED FOR LUNCH AT THE ‘REX WHISTLER RESTAURANT’
WHISTLER’S 1927 MURAL DECORATIONS CAPTURE A LOVE OF NATURE AND ROMANCE: A JOIE DE VIVRE LIKE A FRAGRANT NATURAL PERFUME
THE CYCLE IS TITLED ‘THE EXPEDITION IN PURSUIT OF RARE MEATS’
IT S AN ENCHANTED PLACE FOR LUNCH
AND IF YOU LIKE RARE MEATS I RECOMMEND THE BEEF! IT IS 48 DAY AGED RIB ROAST CARVED AT YOUR TABLE BY A BEEFY CARVER
THE ITALIANATE PARK
WHISTLER’S FIRST JOB AFTER LEAVING THE SLADE SCHOOL OF ART WAS FOR MURALS IN A YOUTH CLUB IN THE DOCK AREA OF LONDON. FOLLOWING THAT SUCCESS HIS TEACHER AT THE SLADE PROPOSED 22 YEAR OLD WHISTLER TO DECORATE THE BASEMENT ROOM UNDER THE TATE GALLERY TO BECOME THE REFRESHMENT ROOM. THE RECTANGULAR ROOM MEASURES 60’ X 30’ SO THAT IS 180’ LENGTH OF MURAL!
SELF PORTRAIT DRAWING
SETTING-OUT DRAWING
WHISTLER TOOK THE TATE JOB FOR A FEE OF 5 POUNDS PER WEEK, WORKING WITH NAN WEST A FELLOW SLADE STUDENT AS HIS ASSISTANT. THE FEE WAS LOW EVEN FOR THE 1920S AND WHISTLER COULDN’T AFFORD TO LIVE IN LONDON, COMMUTING EACH DAY FROM THE COUNTRYSIDE. A WEALTHY FRIEND OF A FRIEND HEARD ABOUT THIS AND GAVE WHISTLER 100 POUNDS WITH WHICH HE BOUGHT A FLAT IN TOWN, WHICH HELPED WITH GETTING TO WORK ON TIME
PROFUMI FLUVIALI: WATERCOLOR STUDY OF THE RIVER LANDSCAPE
THE INTERNAL WALLS OF THE MURAL ARE PAINTED ON CANVAS THEN STUCK ON THE WALLS. THE EXTERIOR WALL THAT FACES THE THAMES AND HAS WINDOWS IN IT WAS PAINTED DIRECT ONTO THE PLASTER IN OILS WITH THE ADDITION OF DISSOLVED WAX. THIS TECHNIQUE HELPED THE MURAL SURVIVE WHEN THE RIVER THAMES FLOODED A YEAR AFTER THE MURAL WAS COMPLETED
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR THE TATE GALLERY WAS CLOSED AND REMOVABLE ARTWORKS TAKEN TO STORAGE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. BUT WHISTLER’S MURALS STAYED IN PLACE AND THE BASEMENT RESTAURANT WAS USED AS A PLAY ROOM FOR LOCAL CHILDREN
THE TATE MURALS WERE A HIT AND WHISTLER WAS SOON COMMISSIONED FOR OTHER DINING ROOM MURALS BY SOCIETY PATRONS. HE COMPLETED THE ‘TENT ROOM’ AT PORT LYMPNE FOR PHILLIP SASSOON
FOR THE THE EARL OF ANGLESEY IN PLAS NEWYDD, WALES HE PAINTED THE 58’ LONG MURAL ‘THE KINGDOM OF THE SEA’, INSPIRED BY 18TH CENTURY ITALIAN CAPRICCI OF THE SEA
WHILST COMPLETING THIS COMMISSION WHISTLER FELL IN LOVE WITH THE CLIENT’S DAUGHTER LADY CAROLINE PAGET
‘THE KINGDOM OF THE SEA’ AN ITALIAN CAPRICCIO, THE WORK OF AN ARTIST IN LOVE - THE SPIRIT OF LARIA