Private Life of a Masterpiece
Whistler's Mother
James McNeill Whistler's Portrait of the Artist's Mother is one of the most satirised paintings of all time. Yet when his sombre masterpiece was first unveiled, it was seen as a radical departure from the sentimental images beloved of the Victorians, and which Whistler loathed. First broadcast in 2004
Private Life of a Masterpiece airs on BBC Four HD at 9:00 PM, Monday 20 July. (Subtitles.)
Topics
Samuel West
Narrator
Michael Burke
Producer