Whistler and His Mother

In this exquisitely written tour de force, Sarah Walden—the Mother’s restorer—pieces together the complex relationship of the sitter and her famous son in a gripping and elegant tale, exploring how the painting became the first harbinger of Modern Art, why it ended up in France rather than in the United Kingdom where Whistler lived for almost all of his working life, and how this seemingly austere portrait became a cultural touchstone whose afterlife is as intriguing as its creation. Sarah Walden studied art history at the Courtauld Institute and is one of the world's leading restorers of old – and new – masters, having restored paintings for museums and galleries around the world – from the Louvre to the Uffizi in Florence, including Rembrandts, Titians, Gauguins and Picassos; her previous book is The Ravished Image (introduced by Sir Ernst Gombrich).