American painter James McNeill Whistler probably never expected the portrait of his mother that graces the cover of this book to become a cultural icon. Begun on a whim when another model failed to show up for a session, the painting, familiarly known simply as "Whistler's Mother," has become one of the best known and most beloved in the world and now hangs in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Nor, we can be sure, did Anna McNeill Whistler expect that her "cook book" would one day be published and thereby enjoyed by myriad readers beyond her own family. Irreverently referred to by her son as her "Bible," the manuscript book was kept faithfully by Mrs. Whistler of many years and contained recipes for such varied and delectable dishes as bread-and-butter pudding, "oisters," "mackroons," "whigs," quince marmalade, and pickled walnuts. Bequeathed by Whistler's sister-in-law, along with other books and letters from his estate, to the University of Glasgow, the manuscript has been edited for this publication by Margaret MacDonald, research fellow at the Centre for Whistler Studies at the university. MacDonald also provides a fascinating account of the Whistler household in the United States, Russia, and Britain, offering a rare and delightful glimpse into nineteenth-century family life. The recipes are both delicious and easy to prepare; just in reading them, one can sense the flavors and aromas of good home cooking. They are presented both in Mrs. Whistler's words-"To a pint of pulped apples add the juice of a Lemon and a little of the peel shred fine, 5 eggs and a gill of cream . . ."-and in terms more familiar to the modern cook. Where deciphering listed ingredients-such as rose-water, emptins, isinglass, or pearl ash-might otherwise prove perplexing, these terms are fully explained and their modern successors substituted. Among the illustrations in this new edition of Margaret MacDonald's 1979 classic are some of Whistler's most evocative drawings and prints of shopping, cooking, and dining, many in full color, as well as portraits of Whistler and his mother and pages from the original cook book.

Discover the extraordinary woman behind one of the most famous images of motherhood in Western art Judged by the portrait Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1 (1871), painted by her son James McNeill Whistler, Anna Whistler (1804-1881) appears to have been a pious, unassuming, domestic woman. This characterization, however, is far from the whole truth. Anna was born in the slaveholding South, raised principally in Brooklyn, New York, and resided for many years in both Russia and Great Britain, and her life was filled with adventure and excitement. The authors' unprecedented use of her private diaries and correspondence results in a crisp biographical rendering that reveals a resilient, vibrant, bright, and deeply engaged woman. In her writings, Anna made shrewd observations about the social, cultural, artistic, and political issues of her era, which was one of enormous and near-constant change. She knew and interacted with an astonishing array of people, from Russian peasants and American farmers to Robert E. Lee and Giuseppe Mazzini. She also raised one of the finest artists of the nineteenth century. As her son made his way in the art world, Anna became his unofficial agent, promoting his work, managing his finances, and advising him on the best opportunities for success. That he, in turn, should immortalize her as a global celebrity and international icon of motherhood was only appropriate.

This book examines the colourful history of Whistler's Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother. Through exhibitions, publications and caricatures, it has become one of the most familiar images of the century, and a great American icon.

Hot Cold Heavy Light collects 100 writings—some long, some short—that taken together forma group portrait of many of the world’s most significant and interesting artists. From Pablo Picasso to Cindy Sherman, Old Masters to contemporary masters, paintings to comix, and saints to charlatans, Schjeldahl ranges widely through the diverse and confusing art world, an expert guide to a dazzling scene. No other writer enhances the reader’s experience of art in precise, jargon-free prose as Schjeldahl does. His reviews are more essay than criticism, and he offers engaging and informative accounts of artists and their work. For more than three decades, he has written about art with Emersonian openness and clarity. A fresh perspective, an unexpected connection, a lucid gloss on a big idea awaits the reader on every page of this big, absorbing, buzzing book.

A biography of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) that dispels the popular notion of Whistler as merely a combative, eccentric and unrelenting publicity seeker, a man as renowned for his public feuds with Oscar Wilde and John Ruskin as for the iconic portrait of his mother.