Philadelphia, 1881
The portrait was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1881.
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Whistler's Mother
James McNeill Whistler · 1871
painting
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Whistler named his mother’s portrait Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1. Anna McNeill Whistler’s identity sits within a title that foregrounds colour and composition. The familiar name Whistler’s Mother gives a different emphasis to the same picture.
Details
Read the colours through the painter’s title, then return to the sitter. The arrangement and the family portrait remain visible together: Whistler’s mother is also the figure through which he composes grey and black.
In its time
1871
Books from this period
Where it hangs
Musée d'Orsay
In context
Two names for one picture
Whistler called the picture Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother. Today it is commonly known as Whistler's Mother.
The story
James McNeill Whistler paints his mother, Anna McNeill Whistler.
He titles the canvas Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother.
1881. The portrait is shown in Philadelphia, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
The portrait becomes widely known as Whistler’s Mother.
Arrangement
Whistler's own title for this picture was Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother. Today it is commonly called Whistler's Mother.