Another item of interest in the Douglas Stewart Fine Books , Melbourne , latest acquisitions is the above . Little Darwin has had a long interest in Menpes since coming across mention of him in items bought at an Adelaide deceased estate house contents auction which included a book of his which had been presented to the father of a nurse who had served in WWl , her husband a Northern Territory policeman. Menpes had covered the Boer War in South Africa .
The Melbourne offering is a two page manuscript in ink on an embossed letterhead bearing Menpes' London Chelsea address , 25 Cadogan Gardens , a famous residence decorated in the Japanese style .
Menpes had a close at times stormy relationship with controversial American artist James McNeil Whistler ,with the famous mother , became extremely popular in London after painting views of Japan in 1887 . He imported Asian artists to convert his residence into a showcase , the subject of many write ups, the Peacock Room especially .
A prolific artist , he produced a series of Great Masters and in 1911 he donated 38 of them to the Australian government as part of a national collection.
In 2014 the Art Gallery of South Australia held the above exhibition , The World of Mortimer Menpes . Painter, Etcher, Raconteur.
