ON the night of Friday 20th February 1885 the Lancashire wallpaper magnate John Gerald Potter occupied the first two rows of the Princes Hall in London with his family party of ten to hear James McNeill Whistler deliver the 'Ten O'Clock' lecture (Fig.1). By this date Potter owned several important paintings by the artist, including The Little White Girl: Symphony in White No II (YMSM 52; Fig.9) and Nocturne in Blue and Silver: Cremorne Lights (YMSM 115; Fig.2), both now in the Tate Gallery. Potter's longstanding friendship with the Whistler family was outlined in the first part of this article, which described the cultural and personal circum- stances that brought the young Whistler into contact with the society of industrial Lancashire. This second part explores the career of John Gerald Potter (Fig.3), and sug- gests some reasons for the mutual regard between the artist and his industrial patrons, documenting the purchase of Whistlers not only by Potter but also by his brother-in-law, Alfred Chapman (Fig.4) who, like Whistler's father, was an engineer, and who became a major collector of the artist's work.

YMSM 115; Fig.2), both now in the Tate Gallery. Potter's longstanding friendship with the Whistler family was outlined in the first part of this article, which described the cultural and personal circum- stances that brought the young Whistler into contact with the society of industrial Lancashire. This second part explores the career of John Gerald Potter (Fig.3), and sug- gests some reasons for the mutual regard between the artist and his industrial patrons, documenting the purchase of Whistlers not only by Potter but also by his brother-in-law, Alfred Chapman (Fig.4) who, like Whistler's father, was an engineer, and who became a major collector of the artist's work.

JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER'S irascibility and the apparent relish with which he 'completely rid' himself of 'that abomi- nation- the "friend"!' are well known.'A group of recently discovered letters from the painter to his good friend John Chandler Bancroft of Boston illuminates just such an episode, involving the sale of four of Whistler's most impor- tant paintings: Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony, in the Freer Gallery of Art; The Last of Old Westminster, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Battersea Reach, in the Corcoran Gallery of Art; and Harmony in Blue and Silver: Trouville (called Sea and Sand by the artist), in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Figs. 19-22). It caused Whistler to lose the friendship of both Bancroft andJohn Cavafy, the son of his early patron, G.J. Cavafy. Only the eventual buyer of the pictures, E.G. Kennedy, an agent for a New York gallery, escaped Whistler's wrath.

by the artist), in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Figs. 19-22). It caused Whistler to lose the friendship of both Bancroft andJohn Cavafy, the son of his early patron, G.J. Cavafy. Only the eventual buyer of the pictures, E.G. Kennedy, an agent for a New York gallery, escaped Whistler's wrath.

ON 19th April Hans Mielke died in Berlin. Only in his fifties, this serious scholar, dear friend and colleague left us far too early. For many, he had shaped the image of the Berlin-Dahlem Kupfer- stichkabinett, where he was an unpretentious and friendly host. What struck me most, from the very beginning of our friendship, was his great respect for artists and for their work as creations of the mind - not only in the field of prints and drawings but also in the realm of music and literature. It was an inspiring experience to discuss with him the quality and character of works of art, and to share the emotions they arouse. The reverse side of this sensibility was his acute awareness of the horrors history had produced, not least during his own lifetime, for he had spent his early youth in war-torn Berlin. It was wonderful to share his elation over the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

THE tragically premature death of Fabrizio Mancinelli on 29th May this year, at the age of 53, is an irreparable loss for those who knew him. Over the last twenty years, since he succeeded Redig de Campos as head of the Reparto per l'arte bizantina, medioevale e moderna at the Vatican Museums and its restoration work, ever increasing numbers of scholars and students had come to look to him as a unique source of practical help and informed discussion. Born at Ronchi, near Massa, in 1940, he began his own studies as medievalist in Milan, and it was there that he had undertaken a long and specialised course on the history of fresco painting. His interests never narrowed and he could, as a consequence, bring his experience to bear on a very wide range of art-historical issues. Somehow, he always contrived to find the time to discuss them, even when an already heavy work-load assumed quite frightening proportions after the cleaning of Michelangelo's lunettes in the Sistine Chapel was set in train in 1980.

at the Vatican Museums and its restoration work, ever increasing numbers of scholars and students had come to look to him as a unique source of practical help and informed discussion. Born at Ronchi, near Massa, in 1940, he began his own studies as medievalist in Milan, and it was there that he had undertaken a long and specialised course on the history of fresco painting. His interests never narrowed and he could, as a consequence, bring his experience to bear on a very wide range of art-historical issues. Somehow, he always contrived to find the time to discuss them, even when an already heavy work-load assumed quite frightening proportions after the cleaning of Michelangelo's lunettes in the Sistine Chapel was set in train in 1980.