Showing posts with label l'art pour l'art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label l'art pour l'art. Show all posts

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Whistler's Mother - Whistler


We just learned about the famous painting The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai.

Another famous piece of art is the painting Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1 by painter James McNeill Whistler in 1871.

The painting is better known by it's nickname Whistler's Mother, because it is a painting of Anna McNeill Whistler, who was the painter's mother.

Many people have asked what the painting means or what is the story behind it, but the artist Whistler very strongly believed in something called Art for Art's sake.
This means that he believed his paintings should be good enough for someone to enjoy, just by looking at them.
In French this was called l'art pour l'art which means "the art for the art".

Since it is a famous painting of an artist's mother, this painting has been used many times as a way to get people to remember their mothers and feel good about them.

(from: wikipedia - whistler's mother)


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