EAST THIRTY-SECOND STREET NEW YORK

January 25, 1910

The Committee on Publications of The Grolier Club announces with pleasure the completion of the Catalogue of the Etched Work of James MeNeïll Whistler, with illustrations in facsimile of each plate in its various states ; the whole compiled, arranged, and described by Mr. Edward G. Kennedy, and prefaced by a brief analysis of Whistlers Work by Mr. Royal Cortissoz.

When this work was proposed in a circular issued to members in 1904, it was with the intention of supplying collectors and other lovers of prints not only with a record of Whistler’s etchings but with a ready means of identifying the different plates and states, and it was thought that only about six hundred variations of his work existed. As the undertaking has been carried on, however, this number has been far exceeded. It has been felt, of course, that in the preparation of so monumental a publication, no detail could be neglected, and so the reproductions have increased until now,more than a thousand of them are included in the three portfolios of

which the work—with a volume of text—consists. It was stated in the original circular that this work was projected to serve the same purpose with regard to Whistler’s etchings as is served by the now classical photographic catalogue of Rovinski as regards the etchings of Rembrandt, and the Committee on Publications feels that the plan has been executed in a manner well calculated to sustain the reputation of the Club.

The work is now ready for delivery.

Kindly remit by check for $......… drawn tho the order of Arthur H. Scribner, Treasurer, and send with accompanying blank to J. L. Morton, Curator, 29 East Thirtysecond Street.

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THE GROLIER WHISTLER

Mr. Kennedy's Catalogue

Under the auspices of the Grolier Club of the city of New- York there was published the other day a monumental collection of the etched work of Whistler, illustrated by reproductions in collotype of the different states of the plates, compiled, arranged and described by Edward G. Kennedy. We hold no brief for reproductions of black and white or color, but the results in this particular case far surpass expectation, and any one of the 400 persons lucky enough to possess the three large portfolios may justly feel happy. It is as close to Whistler as can be accomplished by mechanical means. Mr. Kennedy’s catalogue in treasure trove for lovers of the Whistler etchings. So vast an undertaking cost him years of research and travel and had to te backed by enthusiasm and by his profound erudition on the subject. The catalogue is preceded by a brilliant introduction written by Royal Cortissoz in which he lays emphasis on Whistler’s extraordinary mastery of line. The slippery, subtle color harmonies of his portraits, his nocturnes and fireworks are apt to deceive the unknowing. His genius was eminently linear, though it was a line

that found little favor with the devotee of the firm classic line. The aloofness of his temperament betrayed itself in his contempt for the subject. His scheme, as he once said, was to bring about à certain harmony of color ; but, as Mr. Cortissoz points out, that credo does not altogether explain the touching emotional quality in the portrait of his mother. In his black and white he was still more personal, though his appeal may appear to be less universal.

Mr. Kennedy briefly relates the history of the collection. He refers to the first catalogue, prepared by Ralph Thomas : ” À catalogue of the etchings and dry points of James Abbott MeNeill Whistler, London, 1874 ”’. In this eighty-five subjects were enumerated. In 1886 A. W. Thibaudeau of London published ” Whistler’s Etchings ; a Study and a Catalogue ”, by Frederick Wedmore. It describes 214 plates, the arrangement fairly chronological. A second edition was printed about 1899 with fifty-four additional subjects. Mr. Kennedy put forth in 1902, with the imprint of H. Wunderlich et Co., a catalogue ‘’ compiled by an amateur, supplementary to that compiled by F. Wedmore ”. This brought the number of etchings up to 367. But Whistler had been a rapid worker, keeping no record and not even dating his plates, except in the first years of his career (not after 1870). Mr. Kennedy, true sportsman in the field of art that he is, did not feel satisfied. The Caxton Club printed in 1909 a descriptive catalogue compiled by Howard Mansfield, and this almost exhausted the list, containing 440 numbers described. But Mr. Kennedy had years before, in 1901, made the skeleton of his plan, and his work tops Mr. Mansfield’s valuable contribution.

In 1890 Rovinskis masterly catalogue and facsimiles of the work of Rembrandt appeared in St. Petersburg and greatly stirred Mr. Kennedy. It also confirmed him in his notion that a catalogue could be made of the etchings. Filled with this idea he had many discussions with the late E. B. Holden, president of the Grolier Club in 1906, as to the possibilities of the scheme. If they had foreseen, he dryly remarks, that the contemplated catalogue with its plates in various states

reproduced would mount up to over 1.000 then the affair would have been dropped ; but, this number not even guessed at, Mr. Kennedy visited Whistler at his studio in Fitzroy Square in 1901. To the question of a catalogue gentle James crisply replied ” Certainly not”. He had a horror of what he called ” commercial catalogues ”’. When Rovinski’s work, and with it for the sake of comparison some original etchings of Rembrandt, was shown to him he saw the proposition in another light. Then, too, the fact that the projected catalogue was intended for a club of 375 members, was to be subscribed for and only a limited edition of 400 copies to be issued, must have influenced Whistler. He praised the Rembrandts and the reproductions. ” This is very swell ”, he cried, and consented. He was a worshipper of the wonderful Dutchman, and beneath Mr. Kennedy’s example—original—of the ”’ Clement de Jonghe ” head he wrote : ” Without flaw! Beautiful as a Greek marble or a canvas by Tintoret. À masterpiece in all its elements, beyond which there is nothing ”. James among the prophets!

He died in 1903. A year later the scheme began to take shape. After many journeyings plates were gathered from the four quarters of the globe. In 1901 Mr. Kennedy had acquired the famous Mac-George of Glasgow collection of Whistler etchings and dry points, and he photographed them before their ultimate dispersal. What is called the photogelatine process was employed—the fascimile cannot be retouched —which has its drawbacks, to be sure, yet the average quality of the one thousand odd reproductions is amazingly good. The etchings are arranged chronologically. Whistler’s hatred of plates, wide margins and ” remarque ” led him to the opposite extreme ; beginning with the Venetian series he trimmed his impressions to the plate mark. Sometimes the etched part of a print was out into. Every variation of the plates is reproduced, including the cancelled. The editorial labor involved must have been exhaustive.

Mr. Kennedy says that ”” as a matter of record it may be noted that few of Whistler’s etchings were issued in sets ”. This may surprise those who only think of the French set,

the Venice, etc. The first was the so-called ” Brittany set ”, in reality the French set. This was 1871, though a number of the plates had been made ten years previously. In 1880 appeared ” Venice, Whistler ; Twelve Etchings ”. This was known as ”’ The First Venice Set ”. Some wonderful pieces are in it ; it is hardly necessary nowadays to quote the titles. In 1886 appeared the set known as ” The Twenty-six Etchings ”. The list Mr. Kennedy gives. He also says that the ” Naval Review ” plates were not issued distinctively as a set, nor were the Amsterdam subjects. He adds a long list of names, the owners of the original plates. It is in the notes to the catalogue that his work was cut out for him. Every plate, every variant, no matter how slight, is noted with fulness. Any change in inking, any scratch, so it have significance, is set before us by the conscientious editor. If on the fith variation of an etching entitled ”’ Annie ” (No. 10 in the Grolier catalogue) Whistler wrote ”’ Legs not by me; the impertinent work of another ”, it is recorded. (This particular impression is in the Lenox Library). This is the procedure of the editor, taking No. 23, ” The Rag Gatherers ”, as a specimen : There are five different states. ?” First, the pot at lower corner is white ; second, there is more work on the wall over the bed, including a few lines, almost vertical, at upper right ; third, there is closer and more intricate work all over the plate ; the. pot is shaded with cross lines ; fourth, a series of cross lines has been added to the shadow at lower right, between the waste basket and the doorway ; fifth, two figures are now in the background, a girl sitting up in bed, a boy standing near her. Under ” Whistler ””, at right, there is an indistinct date, 1851" which should be, doubtless, 1857”. And so on through the 144 large pages.

It is positivelÿy fascinating to follow the mental processes of the artist as exemplified in the various states of his plates. The additions, suppressions, emendations, burnishings and variations were the outcome not of a capricious temper but of a fastidious devotion to an ideal of beauty. You feel as if you were assisting at the birth of a picture as you note the growth from a nebulous mass in an early state to the efflores-

cence of a charming girl or youth or an old hag in the completed state. London and the Thames, Paris, Venice, Amsterdam—and the superb Zaandam plate also; the nudes, the portraits, all are in this truly remarkable publication. What a pity it is not for the world at large ! Asit is, the Grolier Club is to be congratulated. Mr. Kennedy is to be complimented. Such things of beauty are joys for a lifetime (why drag in eternity ?).

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