This painting is the last piece I saw at the Musée d’Orsay and the last artwork I’ll cover from this museum. It was also unexpected since it was by an American artist, James McNeill Whistler. The Musée d’Orsay is overwhelmingly geared toward late 19th-century French artists.

Whistler’s Mother is another iconic painting that transcends the art world into popular culture. I say that since I’m fairly ignorant about artists and art history, and even I recognized and knew the piece’s name.

Whistler painted the portrait in 1871; the French state purchased it in 1891. It’s considered one of the most famous works by an American artist displayed outside the United States. Some have called it the Victorian Mona Lisa.

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