RESOURCES

Rex Whistler Inspirations consisting of two volumes : Cecil, H., Family, Friendships, Landscapes, and Cecil, H & M., Love and War, publication Spring 2015.

Together the two volumes contained in the slipcase describe the sources of inspiration Rex Whistler drew on for his work as a portrait painter, and as a designer of theatre sets and costumes, of books and of advertisements, and above all, as a painter of murals.

http://www.pimpernelpress.co.uk/inspiration

Thomasson, A., A Curious Friendship: The Story of a Bluestocking and a Bright Young Thing, London: Pan Macmillan, 2015.

This tells the story of the significant and fascinating friendship between Edith Olivier and Rex Whistler

http://www.panmacmillan.com/book/annathomasson/acuriousfriendship

PhD Thesis (2015):

Frater N., Rex Whistler (1905-1944): Patronage and Artistic Identity, unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Plymouth 2015.

Many aspects of Rex Whistler's working life were governed by the commissioning process for private, public and commercial clients, The thesis explores the implications of patronage on his career and the resultant effects upon his creative vision, voice and identity.

MURAL SCHEMES

The Highways Club Shadwell, London. 1924-25

Proscenium arch and panels in Memorial Hall.

Picnic in the Country with Musicians and Dancers 1924.

Oil on canvas. 12ft x 7ft. 5.

Rustic Scene: Villagers Dancing 1924 Oil on canvas. 12ft x 7ft. 5.

Rural Scene with Putto Conducting Two Men Playing the Lute and Saxophone and Figures Dancing 1925 10ft.10 x 6ft.5. Oil on canvas glued to millboard.

Allegorical Composition with Nun Holding a Child and a Skeleton Personifying Death Taking the Arm of a Boy Holding a Book 1925. Oil on canvas glued to millboard. 10ft.10 x 6ft.5

Allegorical Composition: Tragedy and Putti Driving away a Heraldic Lion 1925

Oil on canvas glued to millboard. 4ft.4 x 18ft.4

Allegorical Composition: Comedy and Putti Driving away a Heraldic Unicorn 1925. Oil on canvas glued to millboard. 4ft.4 x 18ft.4

Current status: all panels now held by University College London.

Rustic Scene: Villagers Dancing on display in UCL, the other five panels held in storage awaiting conservation. No public access, although viewing can be arranged.

The Tate Gallery Restaurant, London. 1926-27

Mural panels on all four walls.

"The Pursuit of Rare Meats", Oil on canvas. Two panels 8ft x 54 ft, two panels 8ft x 32ft. Assistant: Nan West. Exhibited: photographs of mural exhibited at the Exhibition of Mural Decorative Paintings at the Whitechapel Art Gallery from May 9 to June 15 1935. Current status: extant as executed. Public access.

Hall at Dorneywood, Bucks. 1928-29

Single panel on wall of what was then the entrance hall, and is now the dining room. Oil on canvas. 6ft 9in x 6ft 9in. Commissioned by Sir Courtauld Thomson

Exhibited: mural panel exhibited at the Claridge Gallery in December 1928.

Current status: extant as executed. No public access.

Staircase Hall, 19 Hill Street, London. 1930-31

Single panel on wall above staircase. Oil on canvas. 11ft x 21 ft.

Commissioned by Captain Euan Wallace (M.P.) and his wife, Barbara, who was Edwin Lutyens’ daughter. Assistant: Ronald Horton. Exhibited: designs for the mural exhibited at the Exhibition of Mural Decorative Paintings at the Whitechapel Art Gallery from May 9 to June 15 1935. Current status: extant as executed Private house, no public access.

Dining Room at Port Lympne, Kent. 1930-32

Mural panels on all four walls and decorated ceiling.

Oil on canvas and ceiling plaster. 22 ft. 1in. length, 17 ft. 2 in width, 9 ft. height.

Commissioned by Sir Philip Sassoon. Exhibited: photographs of mural exhibited at Mural Painting in Great Britain1919-1939. An Exhibition of Photographs Tate Gallery 25 May to 30 June 1939. Current status: extant as executed. Public access limited. The House is now used as a corporate entertainment and wedding venue.

Wallpaper for 12 North Audley Street, London. 1932

Oil on canvas. 6ft x 5ft 1. Painted to match existing chinoiserie wallpaper and to provide an ornate frame for Picasso’s L’Enfant au Pigeon. Commissioned by Samuel Courtauld. Current status: unknown. Was owned by Christabel, Lady Aberconway, and is possibly now in the collection of the V & A.

Drawing Room at 90 Gower Street, London. 1935

Oil on wall surface. Seven decorations including four circular plaques 2ft 2 diameter, two ‘mezzotints’ 2ft 8 x 2ft 5, one image of a jug in a niche 4ft 6 x 2ft 2..

Commissioned by Duff and Lady Diana Cooper. Current status: extant. Scheme was removed from Gower Street before its demolition in 1958 and brought to UCL where they were installed in 1960. Several of the plaques needed restoration and one is still in conservation.

Decorated Chimney-piece at 5 Belgrave Square, London. 1935

Oil on wall surface. 9ft x 5 ft.

Commissioned for Sir Henry (Chips) Channon. The chimney piece was in the music room on the first floor which also formed part of the library.

Current status: unknown. The piece was moved to 55 Chester Square, possibly in the 1950s, and was owned by Paul Channon until his death in 2007.

Decorations at Trent Park, Barnet. c.1935-36

Commissioned by Sir Philip Sassoon.

Blue Room: Trophy 5ft x 4ft 6, two vertical decorations 9ft x 2ft and 6ft x 2ft. Library: Female figures, dimensions unknown, several gilded ciphers of ‘P’ and ‘S’. Lecture Hall: Dolphins, dimensions unknown and further gilded ciphers. All oil on wood. Current status: extant as executed. No public access

Staircase at 36 Hill Street, London. 1936

Oil on canvas. Eight mural panels: 8ft 4 x 3ft 1; 7ft 3 x 5 ft 7; 8ft 4 x 3ft 1; 4 ft 2 x 3ft 4; 7ft 2 x 5ft 3; 8ft 3 x 3ft 1; 4ft 2 x 3ft 4; 7ft 2 x 6ft.

Commissioned by Baroness Porcelli.

Exhibited: photographs of mural exhibited at ‘Mural Painting in Great Britain1919-1939 . An Exhibition of Photographs’ Tate Gallery 25 May to 30 June 1939.

One of the panels was exhibited at The Unseen Rex Whistler at Colefax and Fowler, 39 Brook Street, W1 in 2012 and Rex Whistler A Talent Cut Short at Salisbury and South Wilts Museum in 2013. Current status: Canvases removed from Hill Street during the war and now in a private residence, Parbold Hall, Lancs. No public access.

Dining Room at Plas Newydd, Anglesey. 1936-38

Oil on canvas. Main wall 12ft 6 x 47ft. Two end walls, 12ft 6 x 17ft 8.

Oil direct onto plaster. Ceiling and part of end walls, dimensions unknown. Commissioned by the Marquess of Anglesey.

Assistants: Vic Bowen and Mr Biretta (ceiling only).

Exhibited: photographs of mural exhibited at Mural Painting in Great Britain 1919-1939. An Exhibition of Photographs Tate Gallery 25 May to 30 June 1939

Current status: extant as executed. Public access (National Trust).

Self portrait of the artist at work in the cartoon below

Sitting Room at Brook House, Park Lane, London. 1937

Oil on canvas, wood and ceiling plaster. Three walls: 8ft 9 x 23ft 5; 8ft 9 x 14ft 7; 8ft 9 x 17ft 2.

Commissioned by Lord and Lady Louis Mountbatten for their penthouse apartment at the newly constructed Brook House. Assistant: Vic Bowen.

Exhibited: photographs of mural exhibited at Mural Painting in Great Britain1919-1939. An Exhibition of Photographs Tate Gallery 25 May to 30 June 1939. Current status: The wall panels (the ceiling was immovable, and was badly damaged in the war) were removed at the outbreak of the war and re-erected at at a private residence in Oxfordshire. No public access.

Drawing Room at Mottisfont Abbey, Hants. 1938-39

Oil on wall surface and wood. 46ft x 24ft 9 x 15ft 6 height.

Commissioned by Mrs Gilbert Russell. Assistants: Vic Bowen and P S Willatts. The latter only did Mottisfont and was possibly brought in from Lenygon & Morant who were doing the renovation. Current status: extant as executed. Public access (National Trust).

39 Preston Park, Brighton. 1944

Oil on wallpaper. ‘Allegory’ 5ft 2 x 8ft 1 and ‘George IV’ 4ft 3 x 3ft 1.

Painted in three days whilst billeted with fellow officers before embarkation to France. Current status: now in Royal Pavilion, Brighton. Public access.

contact Any queries, comments or suggestions regarding this website and the life and work of Rex Whistler are of great interest and warmly welcomed. Please contact us via the following email:

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Whistler, R., ‘Problems of the Stage Designer’ in Charques, R.D., (ed.) Footnotes to the Theatre, London: Peter Davies Ltd., 1938.

Whistler, L. Rex Whistler his life and his drawings, London: Art & Technics, 1948.

Whistler, L. and Fuller, R. (eds.) The Work of Rex Whistler, London: Batsford 1960 (catalogue raisonné).

Whistler, L., The Laughter and the Urn, The Life of Rex Whistler,

London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1985.

Rex Whistler’s War 1939-July 1944: Artist into Tank Commander. Exhibition Catalogue by Jenny Spencer-Smith, London: National Army Museum Publishing, 1994.

Rex Whistler The Triumph of Fancy. Exhibition catalogue by Stephen Calloway, Brighton: Royal Pavilion, Libraries & Museums, 2006.

Cecil, H and Mirabel, In Search of Rex Whistler His Life & His Work, London: Frances Lincoln Limited, 2012.

Thomasson, A., A Curious Friendship: The Story of a Bluestocking and a Bright Young Thing, London: Pan Macmillan, 2015.

Rex Whistler Inspiration consisting of two volumes: Cecil, H., Family, Friendships, Landscapes, by Hugh Cecil, and Cecil, H & M., Love and War, publication Spring 2015.

LIST OF EXHIBITIONS

‘Rex Whistler, 1905-1944: a Memorial Exhibition’ Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 12 October to 18 December 1960 and also shown at the Art Gallery, Brighton, 7 to 28 Jan. 1961

‘Rex Whistler's War, 1939 - July 1944, Artist into Tank Commander’, National Army Museum, 18th May - 18th September 1994

‘Rex Whistler: The Triumph of Fancy’, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, 14 April – 3 September 2006

‘The Unseen Rex Whistler’, Colefax & Fowler, London, 22 November -14 December 2012

‘Rex Whistler – A Talent Cut Short’, The Salisbury Museum, 24 May – September 29 2013

This is a condensed version of Whistler's Biography with only significant works and life events included. 1905 Born Eltham, Kent, 24th June. Third of four children, Jess, Denny and Laurence. Denny died in 1915 1912 (aged 7) First entry for Royal Drawing Society, wins awards for next 12 years 1919 Haileybury School. Meets Ronald Fuller and illustrates his poems. 1922 (aged 17) Royal Academy Schools as probationer. Fails probation terms and leaves. Offered place at the Slade School of Art by Professor Tonks and starts in the Autumn term. Meets Stephen Tennant and Oliver Messel as fellow students. 1923 At the Slade. Wins second prize in the Summer Composition Competition. Slade Scholarship awarded for his second and third years at Slade. 1924 At the Slade. Selected to paint murals at the Highway Boys’ Club, Shadwell with Mary Adshead in Summer term. Leaves London in October for first trip abroad to travel with Stephen Tennant to Paris, Switzerland and eventually to San Remo, Italy for the winter. 1925 In Italy, he meets Edith Olivier when she joins the party in March. Visits Florence, Pisa and Rome for the first time around Easter. Visits Edith Olivier at the Daye House and sees Wilton and draws the Palladian Bridge. 1926 (aged 21) Final year at the Slade, finishing in the Spring term. First visits to Tate Gallery Refreshment Room in January with Tonks. Submits sketches in March for mural decoration and is selected to carry it out. Starts work on the Tate mural on April 22nd. . 1927 Leaves home and moves to 20 Fitzroy St., studio obtained by Edith Olivier. Summer on Riviera with Tennant. Meets Cecil Beaton and Siegfried Sassoon. Continues painting Tate Gallery mural, which opens in November to a distinguished audience including Osbert and Edith Sitwell. 1928 Spends 15 weeks at British School at Rome from April to August.. Sketches around Rome. Meets Lord Berners and paint together in Rome, Tivoli, Spoleto etc. Posters for London Transport, for the London Museum and The Tate Gallery 1929 Visits Bavaria, guest of Stephen Tennant. Sees the Amalienburg, and Residenz Theatre. Commissioned by Cresset Press to illustrate a special edition of Gulliver’s Travels , 26 illustrations. Published 1930. Invited to Rome to paint as guest of Lord Berners for 5 weeks July, travelling back through France. Designs for Wake up and Dream Cochran Revue. Commissioned to do series of 19 advertising posters for Shell 1930 Painting mural at 19 Hill Street, Mayfair for Captain Euan Wallace and wife Barbara [daughter of Lutyens]. Commissioned by Sir Philip Sassoon to paint mural for dining room at Port Lympne, Kent. Sees Ashcombe with Cecil Beaton, who leases it later that year. Designs alterations, furniture and mural decoration for Ashcombe. Advertisements for Shell. 1931 Visits Switzerland. Visits Paris with Malcolm Bullock. Continues to paint Port Lympne mural. Designs for Cochran’s 1931 Revue. Series of advertisements for Shell Oil – ‘Reversible Faces’ 1932 Studies for very large panel for Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, the Duke of Rutland. The Vale of Aylesbury painted for Shell as poster and advertising image. Designs Clovelly Toile de Jouy fabric, designs also used by Wedgwood pottery. Completes mural for Sir Philip Sassoon at Port Lympne in Kent. 1933 Restoration of part of ceiling in Double Cube room at Wilton for Lord Herbert. Portraits: Self portrait [now at Tate Gallery] Completes panel for Duke of Rutland at Haddon Hall, Derbyshire to replace an older work in the Long Gallery. Series of 24 advertising images for BP. 1934 Visits Rome with Kenneth Rae Mar - April. Visits Poussin’s tomb. Completes portrait of Penelope and Angela Dudley Ward, which is hung at Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and selected best in show by many critics. Rex later falls in love with Penelope. Designs for Fidelio and The Marriage of Figaro at Sadlers Wells Opera, Covent Garden. Designs for Streamline, a Cochran Revue; Reunion in Vienna; and costumes for The Tempest at Stratford. Has an affair with Tallulah Bankhead.

1935 Illustrations for new edition of Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales and Legends. Designs for The Rake’s Progress for Ninette de Valois. Designs for Victoria Regina, US production for Gilbert Miller. Travels to US for opening in Washington and New York. Mural for Duff and Diana Cooper at Gower Street. Mural for Chips Channon at Belgrave Square. Decorations at Trent Park, Middlesex – Sir Philip Sassoon’s main estate. Meets Virginia Woolf and Duncan Grant in London. 1936 Requested by Lutyens to paint eight mural panels for staircase hall at 36 Hill Street for Baroness Porcelli. First visit to Plas Newydd with Lady Caroline Paget to plan mural for her father, Lord Anglesey's, dining room. Travels to Austria, Italy and France with Caroline, probably his greatest love. Designs for Pride and Prejudice for Gilbert Miller. 1937 Continues Plas Newydd mural. Designs for English production of Victoria Regina and Old Music. Mural at Brook House for Lord Louis & Lady Edwina Mountbatten. Moves to 29 Fitzroy Square. Triptych at Brompton Oratory (private commission for Chapel of the Martyrs). [Stolen in 1970s]. Presented to King George V at St James’s Palace and visit to Balmoral. Moves parents to Walton Canonry in the Close at Salisbury. 1938 Finishes Plas Newydd mural September. Meets Winston Churchill for second time at Coopers. [Had painted with Churchill previously] Commissioned to paint mural for drawing room at Mottisfont Abbey 1939 Continues at Mottisfont. War declared. Tries for Territorial Army. Meets with General at Southern Command through Duff Cooper. Kenneth Clark assembles body of War Artists. Does not apply. Name appears on list in 1940 but not approved. Applies to Grenadier Guards, eventually accepted by Welsh Guards. In May Designs for Royal Box at Covent Garden performance attended by King and Queen in honour of French President’s visit. Designs for Luck of the Devil at Players’ Theatre and The Sleeping Princess for Vic-Wells Ballet. 1940 Lent studio overlooking Regent’s Park by von Hofmannstahls. Designs Wise Virgins for Sadler’s Wells, music William Walton, Margot Fonteyn dances. Welsh Guards training camps. Paints whilst training. Father dies. Attends interview for a job in Camouflage Unit, but declines the job. Selected for Tank Battalion of Welsh Guards, training in Wilts. 1941 Designs for Les Sylphides, for the International Ballet Company. 1942 Paintings: The Palladian Bridge and River, Wilton; Decorations for Officer’s Mess, including a Dali pastiche, a ‘Poussin’, a ‘Titian’ and ten other paintings, painted directly on the wall. Works on series of 29 advertising drawings (from 1940-1944) for Rothmans. Designs for Cochran’s Revue Big Top and the re-drawn drop cloth, scenery and costumes for The Rake’s Progress. 1943 Guards mobilized. Designs for Congreve’s Love for Love for John Gielgud; Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband; Everyman ballet. 1944 (39) Designs sets for film A Place of One’s Own. Designs for Le Spectre de la Rose for Sadler’s Wells.
Discusses and sketches designs with Gielgud for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Stratford (not carried out). Whilst stationed in Brighton awaiting orders for France paints, for amusement, a mural decoration, Allegory. HRH the Prince Regent awakening the Spirit of Brighton and on the night before embarkation for France a painting on the wall of the Old Ship Club, Bosham. Killed in France on first day of active service, July 18th 1944, in Operation ‘Goodwood.’ Rex Whistler is buried in Banneville-La-Campagne War Cemetery. Reportedly, The Times newspaper received more letters about Whistler's death than for any other war victim.

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Discover Rex Whistler

Shown below are the major locations with public access to Rex Whistler's work.