Mother of All Mothers

(April 10, 2017) Chicago, Illinois

Our family spent last weekend celebrating granddaughter Sara Kulesza’s Bat Mitzvah in Chicago. It was wonderful spending time with family and close South Dakota friends. Having time on Monday before Seder on the first eve of Passover, Harry and I headed downtown for a drop in peek at the massive Art Institute of Chicago.

The Art Institute’s current featured exhibit is of James McNeill Whistler’s famed painting “Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1” (1871). Universally known as “Whistler’s Mother”, it is one of the world’s most recognizable paintings. The exhibit was Mother’s third trip to Chicago; her last stay was at the Art Institute sixty years ago. She usually resides with her owner the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

James McNeill Whistler (1834 -1903) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is slightly ironic his grandfather, Captain John Whistler, founded Fort Dearborn in 1831 in what is now Chicago. Fort Dearborn was located where now is Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive, a few blocks north of the Art Institute. Whistler who was an expat most of his life and never resided in Chicago considered himself a son of the City.

Whistler’s parents wanted him to study for the ministry but he was not interested. Instead Whistler was accepted to West Point. His career was lackluster and near the end of the three-year course of study, after much leniency, Superintendent Robert E. Lee dismissed him. As a Cadet he did distinguish himself as a draftsman and cartographer. Leaving West Point, Whistler moved to Washington, D. C. where he went to work for the U. S. Land Survey. Later following his art muse, Whistler moved to Paris and later settled in London.

As an artist, Whistler is best known as a painter and printmaker. His painting employed resolved brush strokes, while his printmaking technique was very sensitive and his lines precise.

Surrounding the masterpiece is an interesting story. Whistler’s mother was living with him in Chelsea at the time of the painting and agreed to be the model for his composition. Originally she stood in his living room for the portrait. However the physical demands of posing proved to be too strenuous for Mom. Consequently the painting was recomposed with her sitting.

The result was the painting we know today capturing and embodying some of the best qualities of motherhood at the time; “stoic rectitude and frugality.”

The curated exhibit was contained within one gallery yet exhibited to give context to the Grand Centerpiece and the Artist. Associated pieces in the exhibit that I particularly liked were:

       Portrait of Whistler (1869) by Walter Graves

      

       Self Portrait of Whistler (1871 – 1873) chalk on pale brown paper

      Portrait of Arthur Jerome Eddy (1894) by James McNeill Whistler – oil painting done in Chicago during the Columbian Exposition

     Black Lion Wharf Print (1859) by James McNeill Whistler – part of the Thames set. This is the small print seen in the background in “Whistler’s Mother”.

With a little time left in our Art Institute stay, Harry and I attacked the Field McCormick Galleries of American Art. I walked into the first gallery and was blown away by James Earl Fraser’s (of buffalo nickel fame) “End of the Trail.” It is little known that Fraser grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota. Residing next to the famous sculpture were castings of Frederic Remington’s “Bronco Buster” and “Coming through the Rye.” Seeing these three was worth the price of admission ($24 adult, $20 senior).

Just walking through there were so many museum worthy pieces to see. There were works by favorites John Singleton Copley, Martin Johnson Heade, Thomas Cole, Thomas Moran, August Saint-Gaudens and many many others.

One particular sculpture I was attracted to was a sculpture of Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French (designer of the Lincoln Memorial.) Remarkably the Lincoln Centennial Commission of Nebraska commissioned the sculpture but they did not complete the subscription payments allowing the sculpture to find new owners.

It was interesting to learn that Chicago had been a starting or “dropping off” point for many Western artists in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The Art Institute’s American collection is extensive and alone worth a visit.