“Whistler’s Mother”

By James Abbott McNeill Whistle

FORMAL ANALYSIS

Identification:
Painter: James Abbott McNeill Whistle
Title of the Painting: Whistler’s Mother
Production site: Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London
Production date: 1871
Previous location: The Musée du Luxembourg in Paris acquired
it in 1891. 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. From June to September 2006, it was
on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. From May 22 to
September 6, 2010, it was on display at the M. H. The painting
was displayed at the de Young Memorial Museum in San
Francisco, as well as the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena,
California. From March 27 to June 22, 2015, the exhibition was
on display at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown,
Massachusetts. From March 4 to May 21, 2017, it was on
display at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Current Location: the Musée d'Orsay in Paris – since 1891 due
to exhibits it was returned in 2019 already.

Technical Data:
Dimensions: 1,443 mm × 1,624 mm
Materials: Oil on canvas
General Condition: (no data; assumed in good condition)

Theme:
Portrait of Whistler’s Mother (Anna McNeill Whistler) born in
1804 – united with the common area of a house.

Sitting sideways next to the wall is Whistler’s Mother. She is

wearing a dark colored dress together with cotton day cap
trimmed with ribbons, called lappets which compliments the
color of her surroundings. As the ends of her dress flowing
dramatically on the side, eyes are looking directly in front ironic
with her body posture while hands are resting on her lap.
As mentioned above, the posture of the depicted woman is in
accordance with the monotonous of the background.
Function:
It was supposed to be a commission for a Member of
Parliament’s daughter named Maggie Graham, but she flaked
on Whistler after failing him to provide a perfect sitting that
looked like a finished painting. This gave Whistler a chance to
do a portrait of his mother.
 

Structure:
The frame is personally designed by Whistler. Its golden hue
reflects the modest gold wedding band on his mother’s finger.
Take note of how the artist focused his attention first. The
figure's dress is nothing more than a pencil sketch. The
background has been roughed in, and the sitter's face has been
delicately modeled. Whistler created a work that, despite being
unfinished, has star power by working out from the most
important parts of the painting.

Composition:
With only a few exceptions, the entire detailed composition is
built around rectangles. Whistler angles his image sensor so
that he is looking directly at the wall. Only the sitting woman
deviates from rectangles, but she is a heavy, sluggish mass
rather than a soft and gentle shape. A well-structured
composition, more like an analytic composition than a portrait.
As previously stated, the arrangement and proportions of
rectangles create a slow rhythm. Other forms, on the other
hand, are meticulously linked and aligned. The left and right
framed images are aligned with the woman's head, with the
bottom of both images aligned with the base of her nose.
The spacing between the rectangles' proportions may reflect
the proportions of the composition's dominant rectangles. The
head, hands, and wooden platform (under her feet) are all
aligned, with a similar proportional distribution. Take note of
how her hands and cuffs loosely echo the shape and pattern of
her entire figure and head. The curtain's prominent diagonal
pattern echoes the angle of the woman's figure's axis. The
woman's large form "visually equal" the black curtain and white
painting on the wall. This gives the painting a asymmetrical
balanced appearance.

COMPOSITION ANALYSIS

Identification and History of the Subject:

Anna McNeill Whistler, a true Victorian, was religious and

always tried to be a good housewife and mother. She was 45
years old when she was widowed, and she was devoted to her
surviving children. She moved to London in 1864 to be closer to
them, and she eventually became aware of James' bohemian
lifestyle. Though we might expect the debauchery of that life to
infuriate the devoted mother, she supported her son by being
his model, caretaker, and even his art agent on occasion.

Relation between Iconography and Shape:

The picture plane is neatly divided into three regions: the left-
most rectangle, the middle rectangle, and the right-most
rectangle (mostly curtain). Second, the woman breaks the dark
floor below. Third, there's the lighter upper right wall. The
woman and the two framed pictures (rectangles) on the wall
further divide this area. The proportions of the background
shape are nearly identical to those of the overall picture field.
The proportions of a woman's head are similar, though vertical.
The proportions of the implied rectangle from the prominent
corner (lower left of the medium gray wall) to the sitter's head
are repeated. As a result, Whistler creates a rhythm of
proportions as well as rectangles.