Title of Artwork: “Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian”
Artwork by James McNeill Whistler
Year Created 1888-1900
Summary of Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian
The Andalusian is a painting by James McNeill Whistler. It’s called Mother of Pearl and Silver. Work shows a woman in full figure with her back to the viewer, with her head turned away. People who look like Ethel Whibley (née Birnie Philip) are the artist’s secretary and sister-in-law.
All About Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian
The painting has a colour scheme of black, mother of pearl, and silver. In the movie, the title refers to Ethel’s grey silk evening dress, which is a Parisian dress in a Belle Époque style. The transparent layered sleeves of the black bolero jacket make the dress look like an Andalusian costume.
Whistler was born in the United States to a railroad engineer named George Washington Whistler in 1834. He was the son of James McNeill Whistler, a painter. In 1843, his father moved the family to Saint Petersburg, Russia, where James learned how to paint.
Then he came back to the United States and went to the US Military Academy at West Point in 1851. During the year 1855, he made his way back to Europe, where he was going to focus on painting and not work.
In the beginning, he lived in Paris. In 1859, he moved to London, where he would spend most of the rest of his life. As time went on, he came back to Paris and lived there from 1892 to 1901. His studio was at the top of 86 Rue Notre Dame des Champs.
A woman named Ethel Birnie Philip was born on September 29, 1861. Daughter of John Birnie Philip and Frances Black: “Beatrix,” “Trixie,” or “Beatrix” is the name of her sister. She married Whistler in 1888.
At some point between 1893 and 1894, Ethel worked as a secretary for the artist Whistler. She married Charles Whibley in the garden of the house Whistler lived in on Rue du Bac in 1896.
After Ethel Whistler’s death, her sister Rosalind Birnie Philip took over as Whistler’s secretary. She was also named the artist’s executrix when he died.
Whistler did a lot of full-length portraits of Ethel, like Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian and Rose and Silver: Portrait of Mrs Whibley. He also did sketches and etchings of her called Miss Ethel Philip or Mrs Whibley.
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.
