The Triumph of Neptune, a carpet design by Rex Whistler for Edward James.Had Rex Whistler not been tragically killed in Normandy in 1944 aged 39, Cecil Beaton thought he would have become the next Turner. Whistler enjoyed a short-lived yet dazzling career. His work encompassed all areas of art and design - from West End theatre to book illustration and mural and trompe-l'oeil painting. At the age of only 21, Whistler was commissioned to produce a mural to decorate the restaurant at the Tate Gallery - The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats remains to this very day one of his most famous and remarkable achievements.
We are enormous devotees of Rex Whistler and know the mural, recently restored we understand, in the Tate Britain restaurant well. Have you also seen the Whistler mural at Plas Newydd on Anglesey which, or so we think, is remarkable?
ReplyDeleteOur friend and painter, Orr Máté, about whom we did a fairly recent blog post, has this weekend gone to London especially to see 'The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats'. His work shares certain characteristics.