A tale of two Annas: Van Gogh's favourite Whistler painting stars in Tate Britain show

Whistler’s portrait of his 67-year-old mother Anna, painted in 1871 in Chelsea, is titled Arrangement in Grey and Black no. 1 and is now widely known as Portrait of the Painter’s Mother. The painting will be shown as a highlight in Tate Britain’s exhibition opening 21 May and running to 27 September, then traveling to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from 16 October to 10 January 2027. The work is on loan from its Paris collection and remains in its original Whistler-designed frame, allowing viewers to see the intended presentation. The portrait has come to represent motherhood and the dignity of age, described as a first modern portrait treated as an icon and criticized by iconoclasts. Van Gogh wrote in December 1889 that the image of old age reminded him of his own mother.

"In December 1889 Vincent van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil that this striking picture of old age reminded him of their own mother: "When I think of Mother she too appears like that to me.""

"In 1871, after a model failed to turn up, the American-born artist painted his 67-year-old mother Anna, who was living with him in Chelsea in London. Whistler entitled the resulting picture Arrangement in Grey and Black no. 1, although it is now usually referred to as simply Portrait of the Painter's Mother."

"The painting belongs to the in Paris, which is lending it to the London and Amsterdam exhibitions. It is still in its original frame, designed by Whistler himself, so those who only know the portrait from reproductions will have the chance to see it as the artist intended."

"Portrait of the Painter's Mother has now come to represent an image of motherhood and the dignity of age. In their 2018 biography of Anna Whistler, authors Daniel Sutherland and Georgia Toutziari describe it as "the first modern portrait, to be both treated as an icon and abused by the iconoclasts"."

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