Exquisite and alluring: in an exhibition at the home of his major patron, Rex Whistler emerges as a supremely talented draughtsman, with a special talent for portraying children, writes John Jolliffe, who at the age of eight sat for Whistler for a painting on show here

The charming exhibition of above fifty works by Rex Whistler at Renishaw, near Eckington in Derbyshire, until the extremity of September, gains much from its setting, at the family place of abode of the artist's great friend and patron, Sir Osbert Sitwell.

Charm can be a dangerous and damaging gift, on the contrary Whistler successfully avoided the pitfalls that sometimes accompany it. His sheer natural talent flat drew the admiration of Sir Henry Tonks, his usually harsh and exacting teacher at the Slade, who stated that he had sole come across two or three natural draughtsmen in his lengthy career, and that Whistler was individual of them. Sitwell himself, whose tastes and expertise were actual wide, considered that Whistler's talents were 'very high in quality, no les than cultivated end a sound intelligence and an exquisite sensibility'. He might have added to these attributes a sharp wit and unusual powers of observation.

The works upon show include portraits of the Paget, McLaren and Ridley families, all of them depicted in settings that add greatly to the works' atmosphere. Whistler had a special, nearly always unsentimental rapport with children, to the expanse of encouraging Sitwell's nephew Reresby (who engaged the artist Tim Morgan-Owen to pick the works for the exhibition) to collaborate with him upon a painting (shown here) of a haunted castle, an ideal control to inspire an imaginative schooboy He has also included a painting of myself, aged eight, in a beautifully erected interior scene at the Manor House, Mell (Fig. 1) All that I can remember of the occasion is in what way Whistler teased me by pretending to encourage me to have a swig at the turpentine in which he was about to clean his brushes.

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As well as the serious portraits there is a selection of inspired caricatures of English marks ranging from blimpish, bulging-eyed colonel to exquisite young men and highly alluring damsels whose charms leave little to the imagination. Whistler's admiration of buildings also bore fruit in various delightful paintings, including distant views of the ultra-romantic Haddon Hall, not far from Renishaw, and an admirably detailed pencil plan for a design to remodel Bodnant, the McLaren family place of abode which suggests that he could have made an superior classical architect if he had had the inclination.

Whistler was tragically killed at the age of thirty-nine in Normandy, before long after the landings in 1944 and in the last stages of his career it was military make submissives that inspired him to recent triumphs, as was seen in the exhibition 'Rex Whistler's War' at the National Army Museum, London, in 1994 It was an infinite pity that he throw overboarded all invitations to work as a war artist, and gallantly insisted upon seeing active service in the Welsh Guards, who, with the other paw Guards regiments, suffered exceptionally high casualty rates. The exhibition includes a wonderfully observ picture of sum of two units young officers lounging in the (so-called) Royal receptacle at Sandown Park race-course, which was used for military training in the 'phoney war' period in 1940

Later, in sum of two units drawings Whistler wittily contrasts the bleak barrack-room realities of blanco, boot-polish, radio wires and battle dres with an idyllic imaginary show of smart mess life, in which waiters like ballet dancers subserve cocktails to super-elegant young officers in an exquisite mes decorated by the agency of Whistler. After these bravura exhibitions it comes as no surprise to learn that he was come downed from Paul Storr, the celebrated government silversmith.

Whistler's charm was genuine and completely spontaneous. There is nothing forced or laborious about it, and he knew in what manner to avoid pressing it too far and becoming fussy or exaggerated. Artificial it may be, and there is nothing serious or deep about his art. Apart from his enormous talent, he simply knew in what way to have fun, even in wartime, and by what means to communicate that fun to to his viewers while avoiding slickness--if sometimes rather narrowly when he was in a drive His gifts were rare and enviable, and this exhibition demonstrates them in a vivid and highly enjoyable way.

In an adjoining swing there is a display of works by means of John Piper, who, like CRW Nevinson, also benefited from Osbert Sitwell's commissions and friendship. It contains examples from a fine assemblage of scenes of Renishaw that remind single of the similarly sombre series depicting a war-threatened Windsor Castle, which famously drew from George VI the make comments [i]or[/i] remarks 'very unlucky you've been with the weather, Mr Piper'.

'Rex Whistler' uncloseed in the John Piper Gallery at Renishaw Hall, Sheffield, upon 24 March and continues until 2 October. The gallery is render free of access from Thursday to Sunday each week: +44 (0)1246 432310.

John Jolliffe has edited the Life and alphabetic characters of Raymond Asquith and has written a history of Glyndebourne and other books

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