Rex Whistler Archive

Rex Whistler Collection

The artist Rex Whistler (1905-1944) is most famous for the exceptional mural designs he was commissioned to undertake for the Tate Gallery restaurant; Plas Newydd, Anglesey; Port Lympne and Mottisfont Abbey. His skills as an artist covered a vast variety of different media including stage, set and costume design for theatre, opera, ballet; book illustration; advertising and portraiture.

The museum has five oil paintings on display by Whistler and also holds his archive which we acquired in 2013 with support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, V&A Purchase Grant Fund and Friends of the National Libraries.

Advert design for Shell

Shell engaged artists such as Paul Nash, John Piper, Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland and Rex Whistler to produce adverts in the 1930s.

Army Lecture Notebook

How to deal with tanks - a page from an army lecture notebook showing a baroque tank crossing a bridge over a river being swallowed by a dolphin.

Billingsgate Market

Sketch of Billingsgate Market. Rex had an incredible ability to create realistic scenes like this - either from memory or his imagination.

Bookplate

This is one of the preparatory designs for his own bookplate.

Brook House mural design

Rex was commissioned by Lord and Lady Louis Mountbatten to decorate a sitting room in their pent-house at Brook House, Park Lane, London.

Brook House mural design

Muscial trophy design for the Brook House mural. Rex was commissioned by Lord and Lady Louis Mountbatten to decorate a sitting room in their pent-house at Brook House, Park Lane, London.

Brook House mural design

Mural design for Brook House. Rex was commissioned by Lord and Lady Louis Mountbatten to decorate a sitting room in their pent-house at Brook House, Park Lane, London.

Christmas card for Welsh Guards

Rex joined the Welsh Guards as an officer in October 1939.

Cochran’s 1931 revue scene design

Suburban street scene design for Charles B. Cochran's 1931 revue at the London Pavilion. Music and lyrics were by Noel Coward.

Cochran’s Big Top curtain design

Curtain design for 'Johnny One Note' used in the Manchester production of C B Cochran's Big Top revue, 1942.

Edith Olivier on a day-bed at the Daye House, Wilton Park

Unsigned, but inscribed on the back ‘Edith O/Sept: 12 1942’.

Gulliver’s Travels: Dwarf shaking apples on Gulliver

Engraving from Gulliver's Travels published by the Cresset Press.

Gulliver’s Travels: Gulliver and Captain Pritchard

Engraving from Gulliver's Travels published by the Cresset Press.

Haddon Hall, Derbyshire

Drawing of Haddon Hall, Derbyshire. Preparatory drawing for a painted panel commissioned by the Duke of Rutland who lived at the hall.

Hans Andersen: The Constant Tin-Soldier

Illustration for The Constant Tin-Soldier in Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales and Legends published by Cobden Sanderson.

Hans Andersen: The Emperor’s New Clothes

Illustration for The Emperor's New Clothes in Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales and Legends published by Cobden Sanderson.

Hans Andersen: The Marsh King’s Daughter

Illustration for The Marsh King's Daughter in Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales and Legends published by Cobden Sanderson.

Hans Andersen: The Naughty Boy

Illustration for The Naughty Boy in Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales and Legends published by Cobden Sanderson.

Hans Andersen: The Old Street Lamp

Illustration for The Old Street Lamp in Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales and Legends published by Cobden Sanderson.

Hans Andersen: What the Moon Saw

Illustration for What the Moon Saw in Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales and Legends published by Cobden Sanderson.

L’horloge for Charles Baudelaire

It is inspired by Charles Baudelaire's poem L'horloge (The Clock) and includes many references to the passing of time which are refered to in the poem.

London Museum poster

Poster commissioned by the London Museum for the Underground Electric Railways Company: 'Britannia visits the London Museum'.

Lord Granby

Profile of Lord Granby as a child, April 4th 1933. This drawing is linked to the prepartion of a decorative panel at Haddon Hall,

Love for Love curtain design

Curtain design for Love for Love, a play by William Congreve performed at the Phoenix Theatre, London, April 1943.

Lunch time on field day, Haileybury OTC

Sketch of the Officer Training Corps at lunch at Haileybury School, Hertfordshire.

Port Lympne mural design

Mural design for the Tent Room, Port Lympne, Kent. Commissioned by Sir Philip Sassoon.

Port Lympne mural design

Mural design for the Tent Room, Port Lympne, Kent. Commissioned by Sir Philip Sassoon.

Port Regis mural design

This sketch for a mural design shows Roman scenes of sport, warfare, authority (a litter-borne emperor) and religion.

Raid of the French

The events of the First World War had a vivid impact on Rex Whistler's young imagination - the war is a theme he regularly explores in his sketchbooks from this time.

Rake’s Progress act drop design

Rex Whistler did the original set and costume designs for the Rake's Progress ballet at Sadler's Wells in 1935.