January 4, 2012

Whistler’s Father Budapest, Hungary 2011

The genesis of the title should be obvious, but just in case it’s not, here’s the inspiration:

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (a.k.a. Whistler’s Mother) James McNeill Whistler 1871

I’ve seen Whistler’s actual painting at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. I really like the colors in this painting but what I find really interesting about it is the sliver of a frame and white mat in the upper right hand corner of the painting. It’s the kind of seemingly extraneous thing you’d see by accident in a photograph (at least until Photoshop made such things easy to remove), but which painter’s would just choose not to include. So I have to wonder why Whistler bothered to actually paint it in. Perhaps it provides just the balance or tension the composition needs, without which it would fail to please; but you couldn’t prove it by me.  ]]>