Whistler 's Mother - wikipedia Whistler 's Mother For the Arrested Development episode, see Whistler 's Mother ( Arrested Development ). `` Portrait of the Artist 's Mother '' redirects here. For the van Gogh painting, see Portrait of the Artist 's Mother ( Van Gogh ). Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 Artist James McNeill Whistler Year 1871 ( 1871 ) Medium Oil on canvas 144.3 cm × 162.4 cm ( 56.8 in × 63.9 in ) Location Musée d'Orsay, Paris Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, best known under its colloquial name Whistler 's Mother, is a painting in oils on canvas created by the American - born painter James McNeill Whistler in 1871. The subject of the painting is Whistler 's mother, Anna McNeill Whistler. The painting is 56.81 by 63.94 inches ( 144.3 cm × 162.4 cm ), displayed in a frame of Whistler 's own design. It is exhibited in and held by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, having been bought by the French state in 1891. It is one of the most famous works by an American artist outside the United States. It has been variously described as an American icon and a Victorian Mona Lisa. Contents 1 History 2 Exhibits in American museums 3 In popular culture 4 In music 5 References 6 External links History Anna Whistler circa 1850s. Anna McNeill Whistler posed for the painting while living in London with her son at Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. Several unverifiable stories relate to the painting of the work ; one is that Anna Whistler acted as a replacement for another model who could n't make the appointment. It is also said that Whistler originally envisioned painting the model standing up, but that his mother was too uncomfortable to pose standing for an extended period. Another story associated with the painting is that Whistler called upon his beautiful young neighbour, Helena Amelia Lindgren ( 1855 - 1931 ), of number 5, Lindsey Row, to sit in Anna 's place when she grew too tired. Well into her old age, Helena talked of secretly modelling for Whistler, who was especially enamoured of her hands. According to a surviving letter of 1935 ( now in the possession of Helena 's great - great - grandson, David Charles Manners ), Anna had first called on the Lindgrens to ask that Helena 's older sister, Christina, be her stand - in. However, Christina 's mother, Eliza Lyle née Warlters, forbade it. Ever a free spirit, Helena secretly offered herself instead and modeled for the portrait without her mother 's knowledge. The work was shown at the 104th Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Art in London ( 1872 ), after coming within a hair 's breadth of rejection by the Academy. This episode worsened the rift between Whistler and the British art world ; Arrangement was the last painting he submitted for the Academy 's approval ( although his etching of Old Putney Bridge was exhibited there in 1879 ). Vol. VIII of The Royal Academy of Arts : A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904 ( by Algernon Graves, F.S.A., London 1906 ) lists the 1872 exhibit as no. 941, `` Arrangement in Grey and Black : Portrait of the Painter 's mother '', and gives Whistler 's address as The White House, Chelsea Embankment. The sensibilities of a Victorian era viewing audience would not accept what was apparently a portrait being exhibited as an `` arrangement '', hence the addition of the explanatory title Portrait of the Painter 's mother. From this the work acquired its enduring nickname of simply Whistler 's Mother. After Thomas Carlyle viewed the painting, he agreed to sit for a similar composition, this one titled Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2. Thus the previous painting became, by default, Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1. Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 2 ( Thomas Carlyle ) Whistler 's Mother Issue of 1934 Mothers ' Memorial Ashland, PA Whistler eventually pawned the painting, which was acquired in 1891 by Paris ' Musée du Luxembourg. Whistler 's works, including this one, had attracted a number of imitators, and numerous similarly posed and restricted - colour palette paintings soon appeared, particularly by American expatriate painters. For Whistler, having one of his paintings displayed in a major museum helped attract wealthy patrons. In December 1884, Whistler wrote : Just think -- to go and look at one 's own picture hanging on the walls of Luxembourg -- remembering how it had been treated in England -- to be met everywhere with deference and respect... and to know that all this is... a tremendous slap in the face to the Academy and the rest ! Really it is like a dream. As a proponent of art for art 's sake, Whistler professed to be perplexed and annoyed by the insistence of others upon viewing his work as a `` portrait. '' In his 1890 book The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, he wrote : Take the picture of my mother, exhibited at the Royal Academy as an `` Arrangement in Grey and Black. '' Now that is what it is. To me it is interesting as a picture of my mother ; but what can or ought the public do to care about the identity of the portrait ? The image has been used since the Victorian era, especially in the United States, as an icon for motherhood, affection for parents, and `` family values '' in general. For example, in 1934 the U.S. Post office issued a stamp engraved with a stylized image of Whistler 's Mother, accompanied by the slogan `` In Memory and In Honor of the Mothers of America. '' Both `` Whistler 's Mother '' and `` Thomas Carlyle '' were engraved by the English engraver Richard Josey. In the Borough of Ashland, Pennsylvania, an eight - foot high statue based on the painting was erected by the Ashland Boys ' Association in 1938 during the Great Depression as a tribute to mothers. The image has been repeatedly appropriated for commercial advertisements and parodies, such as doctored images of the subject watching a television, and sometimes accompanied by captions such as `` Whistler 's Mother is Off Her Rocker. '' In summing up the painting 's influence, author Martha Tedeschi has stated : Whistler 's Mother, Wood 's American Gothic, Leonardo da Vinci 's Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch 's The Scream have all achieved something that most paintings -- regardless of their art historical importance, beauty, or monetary value -- have not : they communicate a specific meaning almost immediately to almost every viewer. These few works have successfully made the transition from the elite realm of the museum visitor to the enormous venue of popular culture. Exhibits in American museums Whistler 's Mother has been exhibited several times in the United States. It was shown at the Atlanta Art Association in the fall of 1962, the National Gallery of Art in 1994, and the Detroit Institute of Arts in 2004. It was exhibited at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts from June to September 2006. From May 22 and to September 6, 2010, it was shown at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. The painting was exhibited at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, from March 27 to June 22, 2015, and then at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was shown at the Art Institute of Chicago from March 4 to May 21, 2017. In popular culture Fight for Her, World War I recruitment poster from Canada, urging men to enlist with the Irish Canadian Rangers and to fight for the women in their lives. It appeals to notions of motherhood and family values that were popular at the time, and often attributed to this painting. The painting has been featured or mentioned in numerous works of fiction and within pop culture, including films such as Sing and Like It ( 1934 ), The Fortune Cookie ( 1966 ), Babette 's Feast ( 1986 ), Bean ( 1997 ), and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 ( 2013 ) and television episodes of The Simpsons ( `` Rosebud '', `` The Trouble with Trillions '' and `` The Burns and The Bees '' ) and the movie I Am Legend. The painting is mentioned in part six of Don Delillo 's novel Underworld. The film The Naked Gun 21⁄2 : The Smell of Fear ( 1991 ) features the shape of the painting as a birthmark that is used to identify a character after he is replaced with an `` evil double ''. The 1997 Rowan Atkinson film Bean features the painting as a plot element. An American is buying the painting in order to return it to the United States. But Bean ruins the painting by using lacquer thinner after sneezing on it and then drawing a cartoon face on it. He surreptitiously replaces the painting with a poster from the museum shop. The painting was featured in America 's Next Top Model, Cycle 5 to inspire the photoshoots for Olay 's Quench body lotion, in a modern interpretation of the classical artwork. In music Whistler, and particularly this painting, had a profound effect on Claude Debussy, a contemporary French composer. In 1894, Debussy wrote to violinist Eugène Ysaÿe describing his Nocturnes as `` an experiment in the different combinations that can be obtained from one color -- what a study in grey would be in painting. '' Whether Debussy was using the term color to refer to orchestration or harmony, critics have observed `` shades '' of a particular sound quality in his music. References Notes Jump up ^ MacDonald, Margaret ( 2003 ). Whistler 's Mother : an American icon. Aldershot, Hampshire : Lund Humphries. p. cover. ISBN 978 - 0 - 85331 - 856 - 9. Jump up ^ Hall, Dennis ; Hall, Susan ( 2006 ). American Icons ( Three Volumes ) : An Encyclopedia of the People, Places, and Things that Have Shaped Our Culture. San Diego, California : Harcourt. p. 755. ISBN 978 - 0 - 85331 - 856 - 9. Jump up ^ `` Modern painters ''. 7. London : Fine Art Journals. 1994 : 26. ISSN 0953 - 6698. Jump up ^ 95 - 96 Cheyne Walk by Patrick Baty Jump up ^ Whistler, James McNeil ( 1967 ). The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. Dover Publications. Retrieved July 9, 2015. Jump up ^ University of Glasgow, James McNeil Whistler : The Etchings Jump up ^ Whistler 's Mother statue, Roadside America Jump up ^ Margaret F. MacDonald, ed., Whistler 's Mother : An American Icon, Lund Humphries, Burlington, Vt., 2003, p. 121, ISBN 0 - 85331 - 856 - 5 Jump up ^ Airplane crash at Orly Field by Randy Golden in About North Georgia. In the fall of 1962, the Louvre, as a gesture of good will to the people of Atlanta, sent Whistler 's Mother to Atlanta to be exhibited at the Atlanta Art Association museum on Peachtree Street. Frank Zollner, John F. Kennedy and Leonardo 's Mona Lisa : Art as the Continuation of Politics Jump up ^ Symphony in Grey and Black, No. 1 : Portrait of the Artist 's Mother ( `` Whistler 's Mother '' ) Archived 2015 - 02 - 15 at the Wayback Machine., Detroit Institute of Arts Jump up ^ ( 1 ), Norton Simon Museum Jump up ^ Whistler 's Mother : An American Icon Returns to Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago Jump up ^ `` Babette 's Feast ( 1986 ) ''. Jump up ^ `` '' The Simpsons '' Rosebud ( TV episode 1993 ) -- IMDb ``. Retrieved 9 January 2012. Jump up ^ `` ( 1F01 ) Rosebud ''. Retrieved 9 January 2012. Jump up ^ `` '' The Simpsons '' The Trouble with Trillions ( TV episode 1998 ) IMDb ``. Retrieved 9 January 2012. Jump up ^ `` 5F14 ''. Retrieved 9 January 2012. Jump up ^ `` Bean ( 1997 ) ''. Retrieved 9 January 2012. Jump up ^ Weintraub, Stanley. 2001. Whistler : A Biography ( New York : Da Capo Press ). ISBN 978 - 0 - 306 - 80971 - 2, p. 351 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2012 ) Further reading Whistler 's Mother : An American Icon, edited by Margaret F. MacDonald. ISBN 978 - 0 - 85331 - 856 - 9. Weintraub, Stanley. 2001. Whistler : A Biography ( New York : Da Capo Press ). ISBN 978 - 0 - 306 - 80971 - 2 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Whistler 's Mother. Whistler 's Mother at the Musée d'Orsay James Abbott McNeill Whistler Paintings Portrait of Whistler with Hat ( 1858 ) Symphony in White, No. 1 : The White Girl ( 1862 ) Rose and Silver : The Princess from the Land of Porcelain ( 1863 -- 65 ) Symphony in White, No. 2 : The Little White Girl ( 1864 -- 65 ) Symphony in White, No. 3 ( 1865 -- 67 ) Whistler 's Mother ( 1871 ) Nocturne : Blue and Silver -- Chelsea ( 1871 ) Nocturne : Blue and Gold -- Old Battersea Bridge ( c. 1872 ) Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2 : Portrait of Thomas Carlyle ( 1873 ) Nocturne in Black and Gold -- The Falling Rocket ( c. 1875 ) Harmony in Blue and Gold : The Peacock Room ( 1876 -- 77 ) Portrait of Lady Meux ( 1881 ) Mother of Pearl and Silver : The Andalusian ( 1888 -- 1900 ) Books The Gentle Art of Making Enemies ( 1890 ) Related Anna McNeill Whistler ( mother ) George Washington Whistler ( father ) William McNeill Whistler ( brother ) Beatrice Whistler ( wife ) Maud Franklin Joanna Hiffernan Whistler House Museum of Art VIAF : 184402409 GND : 4764623 - 8 SUDOC : 077500156 BNF : cb14537108x ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whistler%27s_Mother&oldid=814607830 '' Categories : 1871 paintings Collections of the Musée d'Orsay Paintings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler Portraits of women Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2014 Articles with unsourced statements from April 2015 Articles with unsourced statements from December 2012 Articles with unsourced statements from February 2012 Articles needing additional references from January 2012 All articles needing additional references Commons category with local link different than on Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español فارسی Français Հայերեն Hrvatski Italiano עברית Latina Magyar Nederlands Polski Português Русский Suomi Svenska ไทย Українська Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 9 December 2017, at 21 : 16. 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Question: where is the painting whistler's mother located
Answer: Musée d'Orsay in Paris