| Rex Whistler |
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Rex Whistler ( June 24 , 1905 - July 18 , 1944 ), Reginald John 'Rex' Whistler. Artist , designer and illustrator. 'Rex' Whistler was the son of Henry and Helen Frances Mary Whistler, of Lyme Regis, Dorset. He was sent to board at Haileybury in May 1919 where he began to show a precocious talent for art, providing set designs for play productions and giving away sketches to prefects in lieu of "''dates''" (a punishment unique to Haileybury, similar to "lines" but whereby offenders are required to write out long, set lists of historical dates). After Haileybury the young Whistler was accepted at the Royal Academy but disliked the regime there and was "sacked for incompetence". He then proceeded to study at the Slade School Of Art where he met The Honourable Stephen Tennant , soon to become one of his best friends and a model for some of the figures in his works. Through Tennant, he later met the poet Siegfried Sassoon and his wife Hester, to both of whom Whistler became very close. Upon 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 (including works by Evelyn Waugh and Walter De La Mare ) and Mural and Trompe L'oeil painting. Paintings at Port Lympne , Plas Newydd and Dorneywood amongst others, show his outstanding talent in this genre. His most noted work at this early stage of his career was for the Cafe at the Tate Gallery completed in 1927 when he was only 22. He was commissioned to produced posters and illustrations for Shell Petroleum and the '' Radio Times ''. He also made designs for Wedgwood china based on drawings he made of the Devon Village of Clovelly . Whistler's elegance and wit ensured his success as a portrait artist among the fashionable and he painted many of members of London society, including Edith Sitwell , Cecil Beaton and the other members of the set which he belonged to and which became known as the "Bright Young Things". When war broke out, though he was 35, he was eager to join the army. He was commissioned into the Welsh Guards as Lieutenant 131651. His artistic talent, far from being a stumbling block to his military career, was greatly appreciated and he was able to find time to continue some of his work, including a notable self portrait in uniform now in the National Army Museum . In 1944 he was sent to France following the D-Day Landings in 1944 . In July he was with the 2nd (Armoured) Battalion in Normandy as the invasion force was poised to break out of the salient east of Caen . On the 18th July his tank drove over some barbed wire which became entangled in its tracks. He and the crew got out to free the tank from the wire when a German machine gunner opened fire on them. Whistler dashed across an open space to instruct its commander, a sergeant Sherlock, to return the fire. As he climbed down from Sherlock's tank a mortar bomb exploded beside him and killed him instantly. He was the first fatality suffered by the Battalion in the Normandy Campaign. He was buried nearby by an officer of the Green Jackets , a regiment in which his younger brother, Laurence (an acclaimed glass engraver and poet) was serving. Rex Whistler's grave can now be found in the Banneville-La-Campagne War Cemetery in Calvados . WORKS
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