雅思听力材料：惠斯勒-画家的母亲肖像(BBC纪录片)

　　Whistlers Mother

　　Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1, famous under its colloquial name Whistlers Mother, is an 1871 oil-on-canvas painting by American-born painter James McNeill Whistler. The painting is 56.81 by 63.94 inches , displayed in a frame of Whistlers own design in the Muse dOrsay in Paris, having been bought by the French state in 1891. It is now one of the most famous works by an American artist outside the United States. It has been variously described as an American icon and a Victorian Mona Lisa.

　　作者简介：

　　James Abbott McNeill Whistler

　　James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo, art for arts sake. His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger for a tail. The symbol was apt, for it combined both aspects of his personalityhis art was characterized by a subtle delicacy, while his public persona was combative. Finding a parallel between painting and music, Whistler entitled many of his paintings arrangements, harmonies, and nocturnes, emphasizing the primacy of tonal harmony. His most famous painting is Whistlers Mother, the revered and oft parodied portrait of motherhood. Whistler influenced the art world and the broader culture of his time with his artistic theories and his friendships with leading artists and writers.