7. Whistler’s Mother by James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The story behind this simple yet striking piece that ranks 7th in our list of famous paintings with the stories behind them, is that it was originally designated to be a portrait of Maggie Graham, the daughter of a member of Parliament. As his mother described, Maggie “failed” Whistler by not showing up, which was not unheard of, for Whistler could be highly irritable and rude to the models sitting for his paintings. He then asked his mother to fill in for her, and so Whistler’s Mother came into being. His mother originally stood for him, but it being a burden for someone her age and with her poor health to stand perfectly still for hours at a time, Whistler told her to sit instead.
