Whistler’s Mother and the Cat
Speaking about America, we decided to reveal to the public the original version of the most famous Whistler’s painting:
James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Arrangement in Grey, Black and Ginger No. 1 Whistler’s Mother with the Cat
Whistler originally envisioned painting the model standing up, but that his mother was too uncomfortable to pose standing for an extended period, and she sat down. At that moment We climbed on to her laps.
The work was prepared for the 104th Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Art in London (1872). One academician saw before it in the artist’s atelier and adviced to exclude the cat from the painting because exhibition curators would not adopt the subject of a granny with a cat for their very serious event. Whistler obeyed the advice, but anyway the painting came within a hair’s breadth of rejection by the Academy. This episode worsened the rift between Whistler and the British art world; Arrangement would be the last painting he would submit for the Academy’s approval. Everything happened because of the Cat!
One can find the last version of the painting at Mus?e d’Orsay in Paris:
We adore nice old ladies. We also adore to drink water from the vases with flowers. To honour these 2 Our essential feelings a post stamp was issued in USA in 1934:
