Anna Matilda (née McNeill) Whistler (September 27, 1804 – January 31, 1881) was the mother of American-born, British-based painter

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

, who made her the subject of his famous painting ''Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1'', often titled ''

Whistler's Mother ''Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1'', best known under its colloquial name ''Whistler's Mother'' or ''Portrait of Artist's Mother'', is a painting in oils on canvas created by the American-born painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler in 1871. ...

''.

Biography

Anna McNeill Whistler was born in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, to Charles Daniel McNeill (1756–1828), a physician, and Martha Kingsley McNeill, daughter of Zephaniah Kingsley Sr. (one of the founders of the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Amer ...

) and youngest sister of

Zephaniah Kingsley Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. (December 4, 1765 – September 14, 1843) was a Quaker, born in England, who moved as a child with his family to South Carolina, and became a planter, slave trader, and merchant. He built four plantations in the Spanish co ...

(a slave trader and plantation owner, and the husband of the African Ana Madgigine Jai). In 1831, she married George Washington Whistler, a civil engineer, former army officer, and widower who had three children. She gave birth to two sons,

and William McNeill Whistler. Her husband soon accepted a job in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

as a railway

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

between Moscow and St. Petersburg. She had a son named Kirkie who died age four. A son named Charlie also died before Anna had moved to Russia. When James was nine, his art brought the attention of Scottish painter Sir William Allan. Anna then enrolled James in the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thr ...

at St. Petersburg. Her husband died in 1849 from

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

. Anna returned to the United States, to live in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. Her daughter remained in England after marrying a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. It was then the family lived in poverty but her daughter helped William and James attend

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

. James entered

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

just before his 17th birthday, was expelled soon after, and moved back to England. Her son William became a surgeon in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. In 1863, at the advice of her stepdaughter and son, she moved to England, moving in with her son James in London. She later relocated to St Mary's Terrace, Hastings, east Sussex. She was surprised by her son's "flamboyant

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

lifestyle"; however, she tolerated it, and befriended some of his friends as well. This was around the time the famous painting was made, although it was not the only one. Anna was 67 during the painting of the picture. She died a decade later and is buried in

Hastings Cemetery Hastings Cemetery is a cemetery in Hastings, East Sussex, England. The cemetery was opened on 28 November 1856. The Church of England section was consecrated by Ashurst Gilbert, Bishop of Chichester, followed by a service in All Saints Church. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whistler, Anna Mcneill 1804 births 1881 deaths 19th-century American people 19th-century American women People from Wilmington, North Carolina American artists' models American people of English descent Burials at Hastings Cemetery

Biography

Further reading

References