all passed away, though we may no longer go to war for them as the Greeks
did for the daughter of Leda. The greatest empire still remains for
them--the empire of art. And, indeed, this wonderful face, seen last
night for the first time in America, has filled and permeated with the
pervading image of its type the whole of our modern art in England. Last
century it was the romantic type which dominated in art, the type loved
by Reynolds and Gainsborough, of wonderful contrasts of colour, of
exquisite and varying charm of expression, but without that definite
plastic feeling which divides classic from romantic work. This type
degenerated into mere facile prettiness in the hands of lesser masters,
and, in protest against it, was created by the hands of the
Pre-Raphaelites a new type, with its rare combination of Greek form with
Florentine mysticism. But this mysticism becomes over-strained and a
burden, rather than an aid to expression, and a desire for the pure
Hellenic joy and serenity came in its place; and in all our modern work,
in the paintings of such men as Albert Moore and Leighton and Whistler,
we can trace the influence of this single face giving fresh life and
inspiration in the form of a new artistic ideal.

As regards Hester Grazebrook's dresses, the first was a dress whose grace
depended entirely on the grace of the person who wore it. It was merely
the simple dress of a village girl in England. The second was a lovely
combination of blue and creamy lace. But the masterpiece was undoubtedly
the last, a symphony in silver-grey and pink, a pure melody of colour
which I feel sure Whistler would call a Scherzo, and take as its visible
motive the moonlight wandering in silver mist through a rose-garden;
unless indeed he saw this dress, in which case he would paint it and
nothing else, for it is a dress such as Velasquez only could paint, and
Whistler very wisely always paints those things which are within reach of
Velasquez only.