Helen Whistler

Identity:

Helen ('Nellie') Euphrosyne Whistler, née Ellen Ionides, was Whistler's sister-in-law. She was the daughter of Eustratius Constantine Ionides (1817-1888) and [Hariclia Xeno] Chariclea Xenos (1827-1919), and was one of four children. She married Whistler's brother Dr William McNeill Whistler on 17 April 1877 at the parish church of St George in Hanover Square. He specialised in throat diseases and was active in founding the London Throat Hospital.

Life:

At her birth Nellie was registered as Ellen but she was christened Helen Euphrosyne Ionides. In London Whistler was among the many guests who received the hospitality of the Ionides at the Tulse Hill home of Alexander Constantine Ionides (1810-1890), Nellie's uncle. He also commissioned and bought a number of Whistler's paintings. Nellie's cousins Luke and Aleco first met Whistler when he was studying art in Paris, and Aleco went on to buy several of his paintings (Sea and Rain y065, Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay y076, Green and Grey: The Oyster Smacks, Evening y099 andArrangement in Grey: Portrait of the Painter y122). Her cousin Aglaia Coronio was also a collector (see Grey and Silver: Old Battersea Reach y046, A Girl by a Shelf y048 and Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water y179).

Nellie, who became very close to Whistler, at times modelled for the artist. r.: Nelly; v.: Child m0336 and Nelly m0338 show her to be a progressive, confident young woman, particularly in the former in which she is shown smoking. Nelly m0337, in which she is depicted sewing, is a more domestic image. Her correspondence with Whistler shows the depth of their affection and friendship.

She outlived both her husband and brother-in-law, dying on 6 January 1917 with her nephew Stephen Manuel by her bedside.

Bibliography:

Butterworth, Dorothea, Ionides Family Tree, [privately published], 1936; Metaxas, K. H., 'The Ionides: a Greek family in Britain: family tree', The Greek Gazette, December 1995.