Looking at the Masters: Artists’ Mothers

Artists frequently have painted their mothers. The best-known painting is James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s of his mother. It has become an icon.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. His parents were Anna Matilda McNeill and George Washington Whistler, a widower with three children. Anna and George had an additional five children, but only two lived to be adults: James and his brother William. Whistler’s father was a civil engineer who was commissioned to build the railroad between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Whistler received his first art lessons when his mother enrolled him in the Imperial Academy of Art in St. Petersburg. His father died in Russia in 1849, and the family returned to Connecticut. Although they were poor, Anna saw that her sons were educated in private schools. Anna moved to London in 1863 and lived with James, near his studio. She was religious and a conservative, but she tolerated James’s flamboyant life style and even made friends with some of his friends. Whistler ended letters to his mother with “your fond though faulty son.”

“Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1” (1871) (57”x64’’) (oil) was the title Whistler gave to the painting. He was interested in creating “art for art’s sake.” He previously had painted three works of his mistress in 1862, 1864, and 1865-67, and he gave them all the title “Symphony in White No. 1” and “No. 2” and “No. 3.”  Whistler said about the painting of his mother, “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 to care about the identity of the portrait?” 

The painting of his mother came about when the model became ill, and Whistler asked his mother to pose instead. He had wanted the figure to stand, but Anna found it too tiring, so he posed her sitting, her feet on a hassock. She is dressed in a black mourning dress with white lace cuffs and a white lace cap and handkerchief. She is frail, but sits erect. She often is described as having been painted with great tenderness but also with a strong will. The painting is set in an empty room with grey walls. The picture on the wall appears to be one of Whistler’s landscapes. The black, white, and grey patterned curtain is Japanese kimono fabric. 

Anna Whistler believed the portrait was a tribute to her, and she referred to it as “my painting.” It was first exhibited in the 1872 London Royal Academy Exhibition. A London Times review said what most people and critics were thinking: “An artist who could deal with large masses so grandly might have shown a little less severity, and thrown in a few details of interest without offense.” 

Whistler said he would never part with the painting, but during periods of financial difficulty, he used it as collateral for loans. Anna Whistler died in 1881. When Whistler’s financial situation became desperate, he finally sold the piece to the French state in 1891 for the Musee du Luxembourg in Paris. “Whistler’s Mother” was the first American painting in the Louvre. 

Rembrandt (1606-1669) painted and drew his mother several times, and she was a frequent model for his students. His father was Haarmen Gerritszoon van Rijn, a miller, and his mother was Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuijtbrouck (1568-1640), the daughter of a baker. Rembrandt was their ninth child. He opened a studio in Leiden in 1625, and he left for Amsterdam at the end of 1631. “Rembrandt’s Mother” (1639) is one of the portraits of his elderly mother. She bends over slightly with age. Her face is that of a gentlewoman, with papery skin and wrinkles. He dressed the figure in a warm fur cape with fringe. An elaborate gold clasp decorates the dress. Rembrandt’s mother was a devout Catholic, and with hands folded, she appears to be praying.

Rembrandt developed his craft during his time in Leiden.  His mother was a free and available model, and one he included in his religious paintings. The subject of the painting “Tobit and Anna with the Kid” (1626) (16”x12’’) (oil) was taken from the Apocryphal Gospels (Book of Tobit 2:11-14). Rembrandt’s mother was the model for Anna. The painting depicts the incident when Tobit, who has been struck blind, hears the kid bleating and accuses Anna of having stolen it. Anna looks at Tobit in disbelief that he would think such a thing of her. 

Even though this is an early work by Rembrandt, his artistic skills are finely honed. His ability to depict elderly people and emotional expression was exceptional. Tobit’s blind eyes, forehead wrinkles, and praying hands with popping veins add to the emotion of the work. Anna’s tough skin and wrinkled face, reddened eyes, and strong hands holding the heavy and wriggling goat are painted masterfully. The cramped room adds to the tension between the couple. Rembrandt has included several domestic details: onions hanging by the window, a basket hanging on the wall, pots and jugs on the back wall, Tobit’s cane, dog, and a small fire. They once had money, but lost it. Tobit’s fine clothes are tattered, and his shoes are ruined.

“Woman with Plants” (1929) was painted by American Regionalist artist Grant Wood (1891-1942) of Iowa. Wood’s mother Hattie DeWitte Weaver Wood was 71 when this work was painted. She moved the family to Cedar Rapids after the death of her husband. Wood was developing his style and concentrated on the portrait, leaving the background somewhat ambiguous. The Woods were simple farmers. Hattie is dressed in a plain black top and a starched and ironed green apron with white rickrack trim.  Her pearl earrings and a cameo brooch are a dressed-up touch. Her grey hair is simply styled. Her hands and face are a study of age.  

Hattie holds a clay pot with a sansevieria plant, a plant found in many homes at the time. It is a hardy succulent that stands upright. The plant has been described as steadfast, like Wood’s mother. She was a woman one could count on. Hattie lived with her son in Cedar Rapids from 1922 until 1935. 

Happy Mother’s Day