Whistler's Mother (1871). Oil on canvas. 144 x 163. Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1, best known under its colloquial name Whistler's Mother, is a painting in oils on canvas created by the American-born painter James McNeill Whistler in 1871. The subject of the painting is Whistler's mother, Anna McNeill Whistler. The painting is 56.81 by 63.94 inches, displayed in a frame of Whistler's own design. It is exhibited in Louvre Abu Dhabi and held by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, having been bought by the French state in 1891. It is one of the most famous works by an American artist outside the United States. It has been variously described as an American icon and a Victorian Mona Lisa. Anna McNeill Whistler posed for the painting while living in London with her son at Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. Several unverifiable stories relate to the painting of the work; one is that Anna Whistler acted as a replacement for another model who couldn't make the appointment. It is also said that Whistler originally envisioned painting the model standing up, but that his mother was too uncomfortable to pose standing for an extended period. Another story associated with the painting is that Whistler called upon his beautiful young neighbour, Helena Amelia Lindgren, of number 5, Lindsey Row, to sit in Anna's place when she grew too tired. Well into her old age, Helena talked of secretly modelling for Whistler, who was especially enamoured of her hands. According to a surviving letter of 1935, Anna had first called on the Lindgrens to ask that Helena's older sister, Christina, be her stand-in. However, Christina's mother, Eliza Lyle née Warlters, forbade it. Ever a free spirit, Helena secretly offered herself instead and modeled for the portrait without her mother's knowledge. The work was shown at the 104th Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Art in London, after coming within a hair's breadth of rejection by the Academy. This episode worsened the rift between Whistler and the British art world; Arrangement was the last painting he submitted for the Academy's approval. Vol. VIII of The Royal Academy of Arts: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904 lists the 1872 exhibit as no. 941, Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's mother, and gives Whistler's address as The White House, Chelsea Embankment. The sensibilities of a Victorian era viewing audience would not accept what was apparently a portrait being exhibited as an arrangement, hence the addition of the explanatory title Portrait of the Painter's mother. From this the work acquired its enduring nickname of simply Whistler's Mother. After Thomas Carlyle viewed the painting, he agreed to sit for a similar composition, this one titled Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2. Thus the previous painting became, by default, Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1. Whistler eventually pawned the painting, which was acquired in 1891 by Paris's Musée du Luxembourg. Whistler's works, including this one, had attracted a number of imitators, and numerous similarly posed and restricted-colour palette paintings soon appeared, particularly by American expatriate painters. For Whistler, having one of his paintings displayed in a major museum helped attract wealthy patrons. In December 1884, Whistler wrote: Just think, to go and look at one's own picture hanging on the walls of Luxembourg, remembering how it had been treated in England, to be met everywhere with deference and respect.and to know that all this is. a tremendous slap in the face to the Academy and the rest! Really it is like a dream. As a proponent of art for art's sake, Whistler professed to be perplexed and annoyed by the insistence of others upon viewing his work as a portrait. In his 1890 book The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, he wrote: 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 do to care about the identity of the portrait? The image has been used since the Victorian era, especially in the United States, as an icon for motherhood, affection for parents, and family values in general. For example, in 1934 the U.S. Post office issued a stamp engraved with a stylized image of Whistler's Mother, accompanied by the slogan In Memory and In Honor of the Mothers of America. Both Whistler's Mother and Thomas Carlyle were engraved by the English engraver Richard Josey.