The most that men have ventured to say is that he was influenced by Velasquez, though he himself has said he never visited Madrid,--a statement many insist cannot be true; others say he has been influenced by Japanese art,--but Velasquez and the art of Japan are far from French or English art of the nineteenth century; and the assertion that he was influenced by either is a confession that he lived unscathed amidst his surroundings. Back of the art of Japan is the purer art of China; and to that source must we go if we seek the factors that influenced Whistler, for he loved the porcelain and pottery of China long before they were collected by the museums and amateurs of Europe. “When no one cared for it,” he said, “I used to find in Amsterdam the most beautiful blue-and-white china. That was a good many years ago; it is all gone now.” Old Delft did not inspire him with any enthusiasm. “Crude, crude, crude.” This art of China, as reflected and elaborated in that of Japan, influenced him,--of that there can be no doubt,--and he recognized what was good in Japanese art before others gave it any attention. The art of Velasquez had its due weight, for he loved the work of the Spanish master; and if he never visited Madrid, perhaps it was because he feared falling too much under its influence. But he went frequently to the Louvre, and invariably to the little “Infanta,” which he would look at long and earnestly, and to Titian’s “Man with the Glove,” which was a favorite, and to certain Rembrandts, and to Franz Hals, and a few, a very few others,--the gems of the collection,--ignoring completely the pictures which commonly attract, never once glancing up at the huge canvases by Rubens and his pupils; in fact, so far as he was concerned the walls might have been bare save for a half-dozen masterpieces; and these he really did love. There was no mistaking his attitude towards them. It was one of reverential affection. He appreciated a really good thing, whether he or some one else had done it, and he hated above everything sham and pretence and foolish display. To him a picture the size of one’s hand, if well and conscientiously done, was just as important as a full-length portrait. The Italian masters influenced him, for he often spoke of them, of the wonderful effects they obtained with such simple materials and such straight-forward methods; their mastery of color influenced him, and he sought, so far as possible, to discover the pigments and the methods they used. Those are the factors which helped to make Whistler,--the purest art; he was not influenced by what went on about him, or by what was said about him. So little did he care what others were doing or how they did it that his very brushes and pigments were different; and his methods were so peculiarly his own that no one painted at all like him, and his fellow-artists looked on in amazement. * * * * *