Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Whistler’s Mother
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. When you think of your mom, what image comes to mind? Or how about this: If you think of the idea of motherhood, what image comes to mind? For many Americans, it’s a pretty stark image. A painting known as Whistler’s Mother. You know it. It’s a 19th century woman wearing black, sitting in profile.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readThis Sunday is Mother’s Day. When you think of your mom, what image comes to mind? Or how about this: If you think of the idea of motherhood, what image comes to mind? For many Americans, it’s a pretty stark image. A painting known as Whistler’s Mother. You know it. It’s a 19th century woman wearing black, sitting in profile. She’s looking straight ahead, not smiling. It’s one of the world’s most famous paintings of a mother. You can see it on the “Press Play” Facebook page today. But you can see the real thing at Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum. Madeleine went to the museum this week and brings us a primer on Whistler’s famous painting, which is on loan to the Pasadena museum from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.
