Reginald John "Rex" Whistler (24 June 190518 July 1944) was a British artist who painted murals and society portraits, and designed theatrical costumes. He was killed in action in Normandy in World War II. Whistler was the brother of poet and artist Laurence Whistler.

Biography

Reginald John Whistler was born in England on 24 June 1905, in Eltham, Kent (now part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich), the son of architect and estate agent Henry Whistler and Helen Frances Mary, the daughter of Rev. Charles Slegg Ward, vicar of Wootton St Lawrence, and through her mother a descendant of the goldsmith and silversmith Paul Storr.

thumb|upright|Medusa (1926), ink and watercolour

thumb|upright|Cover of the Christmas 1931 edition of [[Radio Times ]]

His best known work during the early part of his career was for the former café at the Tate Gallery, He was commissioned to produce posters and illustrations for Shell Petroleum and the Radio Times. He also created designs for Wedgwood china based on drawings he made of the Devon village of Clovelly, and costumes "after Hogarth" for the premiere production of William Walton's ballet The Wise Virgins, produced by the Sadler's Wells Company in 1940.

Whistler's elegance and wit ensured his success as a portrait artist among the fashionable; he painted many members of London society, including Edith Sitwell, Cecil Beaton and other members of the set to which he belonged that became known as the "Bright Young Things". Examples of his murals featuring trompe l'œil include those at Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire, His murals for Edwina Mountbatten's 30-room luxury flat in Brook House, Park Lane, London were later installed by the Mountbattens' son-in-law, decorator David Hicks, in his own houses. He served in the Guards Armoured Division.

During the war, he was the burial officer of his regiment, and his soldiers became somewhat suspicious of the 20 crosses he carried on his tank. He decided that just because he was at war, it did not mean he could not paint, and he therefore also carried a bucket hanging off the side of his tank for his paintbrushes.

Death

Whistler is said to have predicted his own death. Just days before he was killed, he remarked to a friend that he wanted to be buried where he fell, not in a military cemetery. On the night before his death, a fellow officer named Francis Portal came up to him, and they talked for a while. Before they parted, Portal remarked, "So we'll probably see each other tomorrow evening." Wistfully, Whistler replied, "I hope so." His body now lies in Section III, Row F, Grave 22 of Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery, situated 10 kilometres east of Caen. Reportedly, The Times received more letters about Whistler's death than for any other war victim.

thumb|upright|The Rex Prism at [[Salisbury Cathedral ]]

A memorial glass engraving by his brother, Laurence Whistler (the Rex prism) was placed at the Morning Chapel at Salisbury Cathedral. Laurence also wrote a biography of his brother The Laughter and the Urn (1985). The museum mounted an exhibition based on this material in the summer of 2013.

Works

  • An Anthology of Mine (published posthumously), London: Hamish Hamilton (1981)
  • Self-Portrait in Welsh Guards Uniform, oil on canvas (May 1940)
  • OHO!, reversible drawing with words by Laurence Whistler. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head (1946)
  • "Capriccio" in the dining room at Plas Newydd the historic home of the Marquess of Anglesey in North Wales now part of the National Trust (1938)
  • The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats, mural. London: Tate Britain (commissioned 1927). The mural has become controversial due to its depiction of slavery and stereotypical Chinese figures.
  • Ave Silvae Dornii, Dorneywood House, Buckinghamshire, now part of the National Trust. This large painting (198.1 × 205.7 cm) is positioned to give the impression you are looking straight through the house into the garden when you enter through the front door. It was commissioned by the 1st Baron Courtauld-Thomson (1928).

References

Further reading

  • S. Calloway, Rex Whistler The Triumph of Fancy (2006), exhibition catalogue, Royal Pavilion, Brighton & Hove
  • J. Spencer-Smith, Rex Whistler's War 1939 - July 1944 Artist into Tank Commander (1994), exhibition catalogue, National Army Museum
  • Laurence Whistler, The Laughter and the Urn: The Life of Rex Whistler (1985)
  • Laurence Whistler and Ronald Fuller, The Work of Rex Whistler (1960), catalogue raisonné
  • Edith Olivier, In Pursuit of Rare Meats, being the story of the Rex Whistler Murals on the Tate Gallery Restaurant, HMSO (1954)
  • Laurence Whistler, Rex Whistler, his Life and his Drawings (1948)
  • A. Hambling, Haileybury in Two World Wars, Haileybury, Hertford: The Haileybury Society (2002)
  • Osbert Sitwell, Noble Essences (1950)
  • Hugh Cecil and Mirabel Cecil, In Search of Rex Whistler: His Life and His Work, Frances Lincoln (2012)
  • Hugh Cecil and Mirabel Cecil, Rex Whistler at Plas Newydd, 1936–38, National Trust (2019) ISBN 978-0-70780448-4
  • Anna Thomasson, A Curious Friendship – The Story of a Bluestocking and a Bright Young Thing, Macmillan (2015)
  • Various Portraits of Rex Whistler at the National Portrait Gallery (London), including photographs by Cecil Beaton and Howard Coster
  • History of Mottisfont Abbey Garden, House and Estate
  • Salisbury Cathedral – Glass Engraving – Rex Whistler Memorial (YouTube)
  • W.H. Crain Costume and Scene Design Collection at the Harry Ransom Center