Mr Bean vs Whistler's Mother, part 1
Mr Bean vs Whistler's Mother, part 2
Victorian Avant-Garde // A Seminar at the Corcoran School of Arts and Design at the George Washington University // Spring 2016 // Professor Casey Smith // kcs@gwu.edu // The painting above is by Sir John Everett Millais, 1829–1896, British, L'Enfant du Regiment, 1854 to 1855, Oil on paper, laid on canvas, mounted on board, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
What about "Whistler's Mother"?
Our new splash page features a familiar and iconic image, a painitng by JAM Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1," that now goes by its nickname (in a cruel twist of fate) as "Whistler's Mother." I agree with the anonymous Wikipedia author that it is very much a Victorian Mona Lisa. It's famous for being famous.
The painting appears frequently in pop culture references. Mr. Burns on The Simpsons is so evil that he bought it on the black market and secretly hangs it in his bedroom. Rowan Atkinson's film Bean (1997) features an excruciating series of events with this painting. I cannot wholly recommend clicking on these Youtube excerpts. They're not for everybody. For obvious reasons, his humor is largely speechless. Yet, how could he pass up the opportunity to poke fun at "official" art history? Of course it's unfair. That's what makes it funny.
Mr Bean vs Whistler's Mother, part 1
Mr Bean vs Whistler's Mother, part 2
Mr Bean vs Whistler's Mother, part 1
Mr Bean vs Whistler's Mother, part 2
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