Many thanks to Volunteer Bob Andrews for his presentations to us recently on Rex Whistler.
Bob’s admiration and interest in Rex and his life and work go back many years. We have, at The Salisbury Museum, the archive of Rex Whistler’s sketch books, other works and papers, and exhibited some of these in 2013. Bob was there, as an Engagement Volunteer, and became involved with the cataloguing of the collection. He also works as a volunteer at Mottisfont where some of Rex Whistler’s murals can be seen. Bob was ‘hooked’. Read his blog item “I Feel Very Privileged” from 2016.
He has now begun to create excellent films on aspects of Rex’s works and background. These, together with a handy guide and information booklet written by Bob, will be useful for our current team of Engagement Volunteers as we look forward to a new exhibition.
These have been taking place this month as promised, and in response to popular demand.
The first featured Stonehenge – or at least a model of it – in The Salisbury Museum collection. The model was made in the 1950s for a BBC TV programme investigating how the monument might have been built.
More recently, we have had a behind the scenes tour of The Salisbury Museum Rex Whistler archive. Director Adrian Green takes us to look at some of Rex Whistler’s earliest drawings and then his very varied work from the 1920s and 1930s, including sketchbooks, drawings for novels, scenes for plays.
There is a notebook from his time as a tank commander. Whistler was, of course, sadly killed while serving in Europe in the second world war.
Adrian’s favourites are Whistler’s drawings for an edition of Anderson’s ‘Fairy Tales and Legends’ – ‘The Emperor’s Clothes’, ‘What the Moon Saw’ and others.
As Adrian says, it is such a shame that we cannot display more. It is hoped to get more online as time goes by and to use Lottery Funds to find more space for display.
Did you read Linda’s report last week on the recent Rex Whistler tour of Wilton? Alan Crooks adds this…
As Linda said, we were all shocked at the terrible condition of Edith Olivier’s grave marker (Fig 1). I, however, was not surprised, as I had attended the first ever Wilton History Festival in 2017 during which the organiser, Dr Rebecca Lyons, now a Wilton Councillor, mentioned the awful state it was in and said that she would see whether anything could be done about it. I have reminded her about this and she has undertaken to pursue this further.
Edith, who had an interest in the paranormal, had been
familiar with the legend that two white birds would be seen flying over
Salisbury Cathedral following the death of a Bishop of Salisbury. Thus it is
particularly poignant that David Herbert, second son of Reginald, 15th
Earl of Pembroke in recalling her funeral, wrote: ‘As they lowered her coffin into the grave, with a swish of wings a
pigeon flew up into the sky. Cecil [Beaton] and I gasped and in one breath
said, ‘Edith soaring through tracks unknown!’
Close by Edith’s grave marker was that of her niece, Lillian Rosemary, who died in 2002 aged 99 (Fig 2). This is in much better condition than Edith’s. A member of our party explained that it was Lillian who bequeathed her aunt’s Rex Whistler pictures to Salisbury Museum.
Margaret, our guide, also pointed out the marble monumental effigies of Baron Herbert of Lea (Fig 3) and his wife Elizabeth within the church of St Mary and St Nicholas. Although Sidney Herbert is buried in the churchyard at Wilton, Elizabeth, who controversially converted to Roman Catholicism, is buried at the St Joseph’s Missionary College, Mill Hill, where she was a notable patron.
We were reminded that Sidney Herbert was Secretary at War during the Crimean
War and it was he who sent Florence Nightingale out to Scutari, and with
Nightingale led the movement for Army Health and War Office reform after the
war.
Later in the afternoon, during a guided walk of Wilton House Park, Ros Liddington pointed out the busts of Gladstone and Disraeli, with associated messages, on the boathouse roof (Fig 4). The message on Gladstone’s bust says, ‘My number is 666’ whereas that on Disraeli’s bust says, ‘the time will come when…’ (I regret that I didn’t catch the rest of this, but it was equally salacious!)
Fig 4
As the younger son of George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke, Sidney ran the Pembroke family estates at Wilton House
for most of his adult life, so therefore had the opportunity to build the
boathouse with the salacious busts. Sidney’s
mother was the Russian noblewoman Countess Catherine
Woronzow (or Vorontsov), the only daughter of Semyon, Count Woronzow,
formerly Russian ambassador at the court of St. James, and long-time resident
in England.
Sidney Herbert’s Russian ancestry caused him a lot of trouble in Parliament,
thus leading to his creation of the satirical busts.
A bronze statue of Sidney Herbert, who was MP for Wiltshire from 1832-1861,
is now in Victoria Park, Salisbury, having been moved there from Guildhall
Square in 1953 to make space for the coronation celebrations.
As Linda commented, this was a fascinating and really memorable day,
covering far more than Rex Whistler and his relationship with Edith Olivier;
and providing an opportunity to visit parts of Wilton House
Park not generally
accessible to the public. Very many thanks to Bridget for arranging it.
On Thursday 18 July Volunteers joined a walk around Wilton and the Wilton Estate on the trail of artist, and soldier, Rex Whistler.
It was the 75th anniversary of his death, on the battlefield in Normandy.
Volunteer, Linda, who has loaned us this photograph and who arranged for the plaque which you can see, writes this:
“In the morning the guide, Margaret, gave us a great
insight into how important Wilton was and how many historic places are hidden
in its streets. We finished the morning with visiting Edith Olivier’s grave.
She was not just an important person in Rex’s life but a very important lady in
the town of Wilton, so it was with great sadness we viewed the terrible
state of her memorial in the grounds of the beautiful Italianate
Church.
But of course the highlight of the day had to be actually walking where Rex walked and being in the garden of Daye House. Yes, we were transported into the paintings in the corridor. You could almost imagine Rex looking out the window and doing a quick sketch of this large group of people from the museum, probably giving us all mortar boards and gowns with his sense of humour.
A really memorable day; thank you Bridget for organising this.”
Last week we heard from Liam Story and Maddie Harris of Exeter University after their working visit to us recently. This week we hear from them again, this time telling us about exhibits which they particularly enjoyed.
Maddie writes…
In the week I spent at the museum my love of art only grew, and I became fascinated with the Rex Whistler Archive. Salisbury Museum is fortunate enough to have a vast collection of Rex’s work, correspondence and sketches, from when he was a small child to the last letter that was sent from his Officer in the Second World War, declaring his death. Regrettably, Rex died at the age of 39 and his true genius as an artist is still not as appreciated as it should be; his art work ranges from satirical to extreme detail and precise imagery. Some of Rex’s commercial work can be seen in the Creative Wiltshire Exhibit, and just outside of this exhibition hang five of Rex’s oil paintings, the first one dating from 1940, to the one of Edith Olivier on a day-bed painting in 1942. These paintings perfectly show the evolution of Whistlers work, from a more classical oil painting style with blurred brush lines and limited smaller details, to the day-bed which has overwhelming amounts of detail. On such a small canvas this seems almost impossible to comprehend with this type of media.
When I first heard that I would be working with Rex Whistler’s material I was ecstatic, and the volume of the collection that Salisbury Museum has is incredible and I would have never imaged it to be so big. The collection includes sketch-books, photographs of murals, letters and correspondence as well as stage designs and plans. Looking through some of these archives only made me appreciate his artwork more. His personality is expressed through his sketches and only looking through one of his many books you can see his humorous personality shining through. Many of Rex’s works are in watercolour and ink, these are exquisite and are said to have only been quick off-hand doodles, the precision and detail in each and every one of his works is remarkable and leaves you speechless. Looking at the sketchbooks gives an insight into how Rex responded with each and every media. His skills were endless from architectural sketches, dream houses he created, murals and beautiful canvas paintings. The paintings on display are only the tip of the iceberg to the genius of Rex Whistler. What is even more extraordinary is that the majority of Rex’s work is from memory, the observational skill is phenomenal and I have never seen anything so extraordinary. Every artist I have ever studied spends months staring at a photograph or they spend hours observing the real thing, but Rex exceeds all expectations.
I would highly recommend visiting the permanent Rex Whistler paintings displayed and to observe the transition so expertly arranged, in chronological order, highlighting the developments he made. Rex Whistler never truly believed he was extraordinary and I believe this is one of the reasons he is not more well known today, but in my eyes he is beyond extraordinary and I have gladly had the privilege to be up close and personal with some of his work.
And from Liam….
During my placement at the Salisbury Museum, I became particularly interested in the Drainage Collection. It is one of the most fascinating exhibits in the museum. It consists of numerous objects, from the most ordinary, such as keys (how someone lost some of the huge keys found I am unsure) to unusual items such as walrus ivory chess pieces (which will be later discussed). The collection lays the foundations on which the museum first started in 1860, and even today is one of the main centrepieces of the museum.
The Drainage Collection comprises around 1,300 items in total (not all are on show, of course) and the items were found in the drainage channels that were part of Salisbury during the medieval period, from the 1300s up until the mid-1800s. As such, the Drainage Collection represents 500 years of local history. It is remarkable that such wondrous items were found in drains after being lost, or purposely thrown away, by citizens of Salisbury up to 700 years ago! However, I think the most fascinating items found has to be the Walrus Ivory Chessman which was found by the superintendent of the drainage works on Ivy Street in 1846. Due to the Walrus Ivory material it is made from, the cost of the chessman in its full set would have been considerable, and to have lost such an item in a drain must have been so unfortunate. Despite the value though, the chessman can easily be missed due to its small size, which is such a shame as it really is an intriguing little item.
Upon close look, the chessman portrays a king on horseback, with rows of supporters in the form of foot soldiers looking upon the king. The design of the chessman suggests a Germanic or Scandinavian origin, and around 700 years old, it is believed it dates back to the 1300s (Murray, 1913). The date links to the design of the chessman. The king has lentoid eyes, a broad face, a flattened nose and an open crown, all synonymous with designs from the time it was made. A further indication of the date, are the costume and armour designs of the foot soldiers, especially the shields which have flattened upper edges and sharply angled corners (MacGregor in Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum: Medieval Catalogue part 3, 2001).
I would highly recommend taking a look at the Drainage Collection. It is great to think that 500 years of history was found in the medieval drainage channels that were in Salisbury. The chessman, in particular, is fascinating, and even more so once looking at its origin. I am sure some of the other items have a fascinating story too, such as how did someone manage to lose some of those huge keys. It just goes to show, that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.
Liam Story and Maddie Harris were with us at the beginning of April.
We are both history students currently studying at the University of Exeter, both raised in the local area, and still live here when we are not at University. As such, the Salisbury Museum was an obvious choice for us, we both have an interest in local history and knew that this would be the perfect place to further our knowledge and gain some valuable experience in the workings of a museum.
During
our placement at the Salisbury Museum, from Monday the 1st of April
to Friday the 5th, we took part in a number of different activities.
This ranged from cataloguing to behind the scenes tours.
Our week began with an induction tour of the building, learning about the brief history of some of the exhibitions. Later that day, we had a spotlight tour which further sparked our interest in objects within the museum and its displays. For Liam this was the fascinating Drainage Collection, and for Maddie it was the Creative Wiltshire Art Exhibition. The following day, we had a buildings tour which taught us about the extensive history of the building which stretches back to the 13th century, and about the King’s Room. Interestingly, James I of England stayed here on two separate occasions, in 1610 and 1613. This room is now occupied by the Wedgewood Collection. Later the building became a teachers’ training college, and inspired Thomas Hardy, whose sisters attended here. Our final tour came on Thursday which was a behind the scenes tour, and this highlighted the sheer amount of work that goes in to cataloging and preserving Salisbury Museum collections.
We were fortunate
enough to assist a number of the hard-working volunteers in cataloguing some of
the collections. This started with the ceramics collection on Monday, where we
had to measure a magnificent Toby Jug and input this into a system called
Modes, which deals with the vast number of objects the museum holds (which is
currently over 91,000). On Tuesday, we spent the afternoon wrapping and
labelling the Social History Collection, including a World War Two gas mask. Also
a particularly fascinating object was a Scold’s Bridle, a crude item used by
men to silence their wives. On Wednesday, we helped to photograph and measure
some of the wonderful costumes donated to the museum by local people. Finally,
on Friday, we were lucky to be able to view the Rex Whistler Archive, one of
the largest in England, this ranges from sketchbooks containing small scribbles
and architectural drawings to letters and correspondences. The museum displays
five of Whistlers original oil paintings, three of which contain Edith Olivier
and her Daye House estate in Wilton Park.
We
would like to say a massive thank you to the Salisbury Museum, and all its
staff and volunteers for welcoming us and giving us this great opportunity.
This experience has been unique, and has exceeded our expectations. Not enough
credit goes to the staff behind the scenes of museums, and has definitely
opened our eyes to the large amount of work that occurs to help with the
preservation of the archives, and the research which goes on to put together an
exhibition.
Last week, Volunteer Christine Mason wrote for us about the remarkable story of her involvement with the museum’s Rex Whistler archive. Thanks to this talented lady, some of the Whistler story is spreading far and wide…
Nothing of what happened throughout 2018 in preparation for the show would have been possible without the help, enthusiasm and encouragement of Louise Tunnard, and it was a gamble for her, as if the event wasn’t a success the museum stood to lose money.
I planned
that there should be two readers, male and female, and I was very fortunate
that two professional actor friends, Jill Fenner and Edward Halsted, expressed
interest, so it was up to me to produce a script that would appeal to them. I
started, naturally, by reading every item in the correspondence section of the
archive, approximately 700 items, but of those 700, although some were just a single
sheet, others were six or more pages long.
I selected about 59 possibilities to work on. In the case of transcripts I could photocopy
them to take home, but for the originals the photographs on Modes had to be
retrieved, and here I was greatly indebted to volunteer David Balston for doing
that. Bearing in mind always that the
performance had to be strictly of an hour’s duration was a good discipline when
it came to editing the letters. The
first lines to go were the apologies that began almost every letter. I have said that Whistler was a reluctant
letter writer, and his correspondents always had to wait a long time for
replies, even when commissions were being offered. Repetition, references to people or events
unknown today also disappeared. Finally
27 letters and one envelope made up the script.
Once the shape was in place I had to provide a linking narrative, and
decide on the division of the letters between the readers, which was roughly
that the female would read letters addressed to women and the male those to
men, but this was not strictly adhered to.
The title, ‘Darling Edith and others’ was arrived at by Louise and me
over a lunchtime sandwich, and she designed the attractive poster advertising the
event. So with the script done, and
timed with helpful friends reading aloud with me, copies were sent to the
actors, who fortunately were both enthusiastic about it.
Soon after
the script was completed, I was stewarding in the Henry Lamb exhibition, and
one of the visitors was Katherine Olivier, the great-niece of the Darling Edith
of the title. We talked, and she said
she lived in America so would not be able to come to the performance, but at
her request I sent her a copy of the script, which she reviewed very kindly and
positively.
With the
script completed and accepted, I then had to think about the staging, bearing
in mind the limitations of the Lecture Hall as a performance venue, with its
very low stage making for difficult sightlines, and the lack of effective
lighting. Any staging, however minimal,
is a costly business. Both actors had
offered to waive their fees, but this could not be allowed. Louise negotiated with Edward’s agent, and
Jill’s costs and other expenses were sponsored.
These included a dress being made to a 1930s pattern for Jill, and a
donation to Salisbury Playhouse for the loan of furnishings, for which they
generously had made no charge, and had given me a freehand to pick anything I
wanted even including a vase of artificial flowers from the theatre’s
foyer. Other items to dress the set and
genuine 1930s jewellery were scrounged from friends. A superb copy of the self-portrait held by
the museum was made, and two personal items from the archive also helped dress
the set, Whistler’s Welsh Guard’s cap and the drinks flask he carried.
About two
months before the date of the show, Jill and Edward came to Salisbury for a
rehearsal one Saturday when the Lecture Hall was not in use. This was our only rehearsal before the actual
day, and all other notes and directions were conducted by e-mail between the
three of us, but I could not have wished for more co-operative and amenable
colleagues.
On the
morning of 7th December we were to rehearse and set the stage, so it
was disconcerting to arrive and find a decorated, artificial Christmas tree on
the acting area and the hall bedecked with totally inappropriate bunting. Fortunately, Jill’s partner who worked for years
backstage at the Coliseum for English National Opera, removed the bunting with
Wagnerian thoroughness, but his fight with the Christmas tree was more in the
style of opera comique, and apologies
if the tree was never the same again.
To our great
relief the evening was completely sold out, and the performance went
smoothly. It had to end with a
black-out, which was difficult to do, so I hid on stage behind a screen before
the audience arrived, and Louise joined me after her introduction. We had to have four hands on four switches to
achieve the black-out, and we had been unable to synchronise this at the afternoon’s
rehearsal, but by a miracle we managed it when it mattered.
It is very
gratifying, that after so many months’ work by everyone involved, ‘Darling
Edith and Others’ will be seen again.
Lewes Little Theatre, Sussex, with a suitable donation to the museum,
has programmed it into their next season as a Sunday afternoon foyer
performance on 31st May 2020, so if you missed it in Salisbury. . .
The artist Rex Whistler, 1905-1944, is less well known than his contemporary Eric Ravilious, 1903-1942. One only has to look at the greetings cards in the museum shop to realise that. Both were killed in World War II, both at the age of 39, and at the height of their powers with so much more to give. Salisbury Museum is in a unique position to promote Rex Whistler’s work to a wider audience.
There have
been retrospective exhibitions of Whistler, notably the Army Museum 1994,
Brighton Art Gallery 2006 and Salisbury Museum 2013. Whistler’s younger brother, Laurence, amassed
a huge archive of everything and anything connected with his sibling, and this
remained with the family after Laurence’s own death, and was purchased by the
museum after the 2013 exhibition. It is
the most appropriate home for it, as a few years before his death Whistler had
taken a lease on 69 The Close, a near neighbour of the museum.
As a
volunteer steward at the 2013 exhibition, I was invited to an evening’s viewing
of part of the archive soon after its arrival.
This was heaped on the tables in the Meetings Room, and it was almost
impossible to pick out what to look at first, and the Director assured us it
was only a small sample of the whole collection, which had never been fully
catalogued. In the five years since
then, and most importantly, almost everything has been stored in protective
sleeves where necessary, and proper storage boxes. Where Laurence had put items into manila
envelopes or similar, the contents have been removed, and the envelopes kept
and added to the records, as they often provide clues on what they previously
held. The cataloguing continues, and the
collection has been photographed. As the
cataloguing records are completed in longhand in pencil, the details are then
transferred to Modes.
The cost of
holding the archive did not stop with its purchase. The materials for its protection are
expensive, and some of the original works of art are in need of conservation,
having been kept in unsuitable conditions or folded when they should have been
stored flat.
The archive
is, of course, available to bona fide
researchers, and the Talking Objects scheme adopted by the museum during summer
months, has given a wider public a taste of Whistler’s enormous talent in
portraiture, mural painting, book illustration, film and theatre design,
advertising, etc., etc. This small
selection also includes photographs and some of his correspondence, he being a
reluctant but skilled letter writer, even though his spelling was always
wobbly.
Initially I
was asked to give an illustrated talk to fellow volunteers, which I did. Subsequently I took this talk to an outside
group, and a generous cheque was sent by them to the museum, and further
bookings are in the pipeline with the possibility of more fees for the museum.
This gave me the idea of using the archive as performance matter, rather than lecture material, and early in 2018 it was agreed that something along those lines could be programmed into the museum’s events calendar. I was given the date of 7th December to work towards, and I decided to base the evening on the correspondence tracing Whistler’s life from a 12 year old boy just starting at boarding school, through his work and the high society life of the 20s and 30s to his army service with the Welsh Guards from 1940 until his death in 1944.
This fascinating account of a Volunteer’s interest becoming a public performance is continued next week… Thank you Christine!