For thousands of years mothers and motherhood have been the subject of painting and sculpture. But in the 1930s, one painting was thought to be an iconic representation of the mother.
Whistler's Mother, as the painting is popularly known, was originally conceived as a study in the use of blacks and grays in painting. Artist James McNeil Whistler accordingly named the work Arrangement in Grey and Black when it was completed in 1871.
By the 1930s, Whistler's painting of his mother, one of the most famous paintings by an American artist, had been heralded as depiction of family affection and values. But, unlike sentimental portrayals of mothers, Whistler's Mother is frank and serious, austere yet soft. Anna McNeil Whistler sits in profile on a straight-backed chair, dressed in black, clutching a lace handkerchief, feet posed primly on a low stool. She stares straight ahead, mouth set.
As a testament to the painting's enduring strength, it has crossed into popular culture, references in some way in at least 10 movies (such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show), television shows (The Simpsons), advertising and a postage stamp (1934).
Interestingly, Whistler didn't intend to paint his mother. In her letters, Anna Whistler wrote that his actual subject was the 15-year-old daughter of a British politician who was bored with the process and didn't show for the sitting. So Whistler painted his mother instead. She evidently liked it, because she wrote fondly of the painting and of the talents of her beloved son.
