Whistler and His Mother: An Unexpected Relationship: Secrets of an American Masterpiece

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism

Whistler and His Mother: An Unexpected Relationship: Secrets of an American Masterpiece Details

From Booklist Walden restored Whistler's painting Arrangement in Grey and Black, and she's got some issues with the artist. Not with his life, nor with the women who managed it, including his mother, nor with his grand philosophizing about art, which Walden dismisses as "confused and confusing." No, Walden is chagrined that in his greatest painting, Whistler botched the technique. He ground the grains in the black pigments too finely and applied the paint too thinly. Result: Whistler's aged mother is aging far faster than normal, and the painting will never be restored to its original condition. Walden's lament, however, is more commiserative than pejorative, for in addition to recounting the painting's physical problems, she tells us how Whistler came to paint it--he conceived it fairly spontaneously, using his mom as a substitute when a model failed to show up. A fascinating, easily read account of an icon. Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Read more Review "A fascinating, easily read account of an icon."—Booklist (Booklist) Read more From the Inside Flap "Enlightening. . . . I see the painting more deeply than ever."—Don Delillo, author of Underworld. "Fascinating and beautifully written."—Saul Bellow, author of Seize the Day. "Original both in terms of conception and new research."—John Golding, author of Cubism: A History and an Analysis 1907–1914. "Sarah Walden’s insights into Whistler are absolutely unique and of the highest importance."—Richard Dorment, coauthor of James McNeill Whistler. James McNeill Whistler painted his mother on impulse, when she came to London to escape the American Civil War, forcing him to evict his mistress from his house. It is hard to imagine a greater contrast than that between Whistler’s outrageously flamboyant life in London—where he famously befriended Oscar Wilde and Dante Gabriel Rossetti—and the subdued, touchingly melancholic depiction of his Puritan mother he entitled "Arrangement in Grey and Black." This portrait has become one of the world's best-known paintings and an American icon, yet we know remarkably little about it. While restoring the painting for the Louvre, Sarah Walden became intrigued by the extraordinary and complex history of the painting, which had never been fully explored. From French, British, and American sources, Walden uncovers the intersections between Whistler’s flawed genius, his struggle for recognition, his troubled relationship with his mother and mistresses, and the unprecedented historical response to his greatest work. Walden’s findings read like a detective story, and her controversial and progressive views on art restoration combine with biography and criticism to create a gripping narrative that skillfully weaves history and aesthetics into a seamless tapestry. Read more About the Author Sarah Walden is one of Britain’s most accomplished restorers. She trained at the Courtauld Institute and in Rome, and has lectured at Harvard University. She has worked at the Tate Gallery, the Louvre, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and been entrusted with canvases by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Titian, Holbein, Gauguin and Picasso. A critic of the Anglo-American style of restoration her book The Ravished Image, with a preface by Sir Ernst Gombrich, did much to raise the level of the debate about conservation of national art treasures. Read more