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| Edith Fairfax Davenport, Après Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1, oil on canvas, 57 x 65 ½ in, Whistler House Museum of Art, Gift of the Artist, 1950.11.046. | ||
| This painting is a recreation of James McNeill Whistler's Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1, often referred to as "Whistler's Mother." The original painting was completed by Whistler in 1871 and purchased by the French Government to exhibit in the Musée du Luxembourg in 1891. The original is currently on display at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France. Edith Fairfax Davenport, Whistler's second cousin on his mother's side, visited France in 1906 to further her studies in art. She was granted special permission by the museum's Curator to create a exact scale replica of her cousin's masterpiece. However, she was given one rule: paint the artwork exactly as it is on display. In the thirty years since Whistler had painted his famous mother, the painting's varnish had darken considerably. As such, Davenport's recreation had a color palette of browns, yellows, and off-whites — the colors guests visiting the Musée du Luxembourg would have seen in the early 1900s. In 1926, Davenport visited the Whistler House Museum of Art. Impressed by the WHMA's commitment to sharing the legacy of her late cousin's life and artistic career, so gave the museum her recreated painting on permanent loan. In 1950, she formally donated the painting to the Museum, which has proudly displayed the artwork since. |
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| Title | ||
| Après Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1 |
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| Artist | ||
| Davenport, Edith Fairfax (1880 – 1957) |
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| Creation Date | ||
| 1906 |
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| Physical Description/Subject Matter | ||
| A woman in a black dress and lace bonnet sits in profile: her name is Anna McNeill Whistler. She holds a pair of gloves in her hands, staring forward and expressing no emotion. On the left side of the canvas, Davenport has meticulously painted a floral kimono, which Whistler had hung in his studio as a curtain. In the top center is a recreation of Whistler's Black Lion's Wharf, one of his favorite etchings. |
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| Dimensions (Measurements Description) | ||
| written - h: 57 in., w: 65 ½ in. (h: 144.78 cm., w: 166.37 cm.) |
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| Object Type | ||
| Painting |
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| Material(s) | ||
| Oil |
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| Material(s) Description | ||
| Oil on stretched canvas |
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| Affiliated School | ||
| Realism |
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| Location | ||
| On display |
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| Credit Line | ||
| Gift of the Artist |
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| Object Number | ||
1950.11.046
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