![[logo] Crest of the University of Wisconsin-Madison](/images/crest.png)
![[logo] Ask a Librarian](/images/ask.png)
« Back to All News Releases
Lecturer to speak on Whistler's 'Mother,' March 25
Posted 3/18/2004
MADISON, Wis. -- Martha Tedeschi, curator in the department of prints and drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, will speak on James McNeill Whistler’s "Arrangement in Gray and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother" at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, March 25, in 126 Memorial Library.
Whistler’s "Mother," like Leonardo da Vinci’s "Mona Lisa," and Grant Wood’s "American Gothic" is one of a handful of paintings to move beyond the elite world of art and into the vast arena of popular culture. Tedeschi will discuss how and why the painting made the leap from fine art masterpiece to a popular icon.
Tedeschi has written widely on Whistler, including the award-winning two-volume work, "The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler," which focuses on his print-making techniques, the correspondence between the artist and his printers in London, and illustrations of his lithographs.
Whistler (1834-1903) was an American-born artist who spent much of his life in London and Paris, and who has left a prodigious number of works, including his famous "Nocturne" series.
This event is sponsored by the Friends of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries.
