Celebrates the artist Rex Whistler, portrait painter, designer, illustrator and the outstanding mural painter of the interwar years.
Rex Whistler was born Reginald John Whistler in Eltham, Kent in 1905. He studied at the Royal Academy and the Slade School of Art. On leaving the Slade he burst into a dazzling career as a professional artist. His work encompassed all areas of art and design-from the West End theatre to book illustration and mural and trompe-l'oeil.
Whistler paintings from this period can be seen at Port Lympne Mansion, Plas Newydd, Mottisfont Abbey and Dorneywood amongst others. His most noted work during the early part of his career was for the cafe at Tate Britain, completed in 1927. At the outbreak of World War 2 he was commissioned into the Welsh Guards. He was killed during the Battle of Normandy on 18 July 1944.
Family, Friendships, Landscapes describes the sources of inspiration Rex Whistler drew on - including his family, his many friendships and the landscapes of his beloved Wessex and Italy - 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 the outstanding mural painter of the interwar years.
