Books, Letters of James McNeill Whistler

16 Mar 1863 or 23 Mar 1863. 7a Queens Road West, Chelsea. Monday - / March

Dear Rose (age 43) -

Any news about "my house" - . Is it all right? am I wanted to take any step? or will it all be settled without me? Are you going to make him do anything at all to the house and can I go in shortly when the agreement is made

I have been knocked up for a couple of days with rheumatism but hope to get to work again tomorrow - I was very sorry not to see you the other day at Rossetti's (age 34) -

Will you drop me a line about the house.

With many thanks

Ever Yours

J Whistler (age 28)

31 May 1863. 7 Lindsey Row Old Chelsea. Sunday

Dear Sandys (age 34) -

You have done the proper thing thoroughly and I only wish I could accept your jolly invitation and do the yachting and eat the dinner which I have no doubt will be stunning -

but it's of no use - I must stick to a couple of pictures, commissions! for I am just about cleaned out - and tin will be forked over on their completion -

Your "Vivien" is splendid in tone and colour especially the head - of course it is badly hung -

One of my pictures [is] refused and one put on the floor - You will perhaps be pleased to hear that the "White Girl" is a real success in Paris - and already I have had a letter to know if it may be possessed for gold! -

Adieu mon cher - Remember me to Tom Geckyl (age 35) -

Jo (age 20) says many things aimables - and if ever I lent her to anyone to paint, it should certainly be to you mon ami -

Adieu again - and success to the trip -

Ever yours,

J. Whistler (age 28)

15 Oct 1877. James Abbott McNeill Whistler (age 43) to Philip Richard Morris (age 40). 96 Cheyne Walk.

Dear Morris

I had thought I would write no letters - they are such sad businesses - & the flaw in the friendship like the crack in the china - it is useless to explain - the true ring has gone for ever - on the other hand absolute silence may be misunderstood - so I had better state clearly how we stand. - You say that I made no objection - but virtually consented to what you have done - is this a satisfaction to you Morris? - if so - I might stop here. It didnt occur to you then - when you made your little proposal - that of course I should consent - & were you again to ask my permission to do me any other wrong - I should again consent. - Have you forgotten our old walks & talks in Chelsea? I had taken you into the intimacy of my work and believed in you as a strong sympathizer with whom all the mysteries of the studio might be freely shared - I made no secret of my daily experience but willingly offered these to my chosen companion & from painter to painter no confidences could have been more unrestricted

now what happened? the first time your fidelity is put to the test - you fail me utterly - & what a rare chance you lost Morris - it is seldom that a confrere[4] has offered him such a complete occasion for vindicating the dignity of a brothers work -

You are asked to paint another mans picture - & you do so - not in ignorance of all tradition of etiquette - but even keenly alive to many milder aggressions on the part of unimportant imitators - whose evil doings - you have been wont to condemn.

"If you cant be witty - be bold" Morris - & acting upon this your principle - you come to me - & calmly talk over the pain you propose to give me - & are astonished at the encouragement you receive - What did you expect Morris? was Whistler to beseech you to desist? - for him the crime once entertained was already perpetrated

The sarcasm of fate - you seem not to have guarded against while I cannot help being amused - at the malice des choses [the mischievousness of fate] - which has put Whistlers picture in Whistler's frame² - & so completes the situation -

P. S. You wrote to me while painting the portrait your happy belief that chivalry was not extinct.

Note 1. F. R. Leyland had commissioned JW to paint Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland. It was exhibited in 1874 but not delivered to Leyland at that time. After their quarrel over Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, Leyland may have abandoned hope of receiving it, and he commissioned Morris to paint P. R. Morris, Portrait of Frances Leyland. This portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878. JW's portrait was eventually delivered to Leyland, and in 1906 both portraits were hanging in the sitter's drawing room (Pennell, Joseph, and Elizabeth Robins Pennell, The Joseph and Elizabeth Robins Pennell Collection of Whistleriana Shown in Division of Prints, Library of Congress, Southwest Pavilion, Washington, G.P.O. Library Branch, 1921, p. 103).

Note 2. JW's annoyance was compounded by a request from Morris for the name of JW's frame-maker. He is said to have replied, 'If you've got the portrait then for God's sake have the frame' (Merrill, Linda, The Peacock Room. A Cultural Biography, New Haven and London, 1998, pp. 279, 377, n. 183-85).

Upton & Britton, Solicitors. 51, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W. C.

5th July 1889.

Sir,

As you have taken no notice of our last letter to you of the 31st May last we beg to inform you that unless we hear from you by Wednesday next that you are prepared to come to some amicable arrangement with our Client Sir Henry Meux (age 33) regarding the unfinished Portrait of Lady Meux (age 37) [Probably Portrait of Lady Meux in Furs] for which you have been paid our instructions are to commence legal proceedings against you without further Notice.

Yours faithfully.

Upton & Britton

Mr. J. Mc. Whistler (age 54)

13. Tite Street, Chelsea.