Van Gogh's favorite Whistler painting to be shown at Tate Britain

Key facts

• Tate Britain exhibition 'James McNeill Whistler' opens May 21 and runs through September 27.
• Exhibition travels to Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from October 16 to January 10, 2027, with subtitle 'Dandy and Disrupter'.
• Whistler's 'Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1' (Portrait of the Painter's Mother) is a highlight.
• Painting created in 1871 after a model failed to appear, depicting Whistler's 67-year-old mother Anna.
• Van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil in December 1889 comparing the portrait to their mother.
• Painting belongs to Musée d'Orsay and is being lent to both exhibitions.
• It remains in its original 1891 frame designed by Whistler.
• Van Gogh likely saw the painting during its 1874 exhibition at London's Flemish Gallery while working at Goupil's gallery.
• The portrait had been reproduced in print five times by 1889.
• Boussod & Valadon's London branch released six Whistler lithographs in November 1887, including 'Nocturne: The River at Battersea'.
• Theo van Gogh, Vincent's brother, worked at Boussod & Valadon's Paris gallery and likely received a set of lithographs.
• In August 1891, Boussod & Valadon's Paris gallery displayed two Whistler nocturnes now in the Tate exhibition: 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Southampton Water' and 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold: St Mark's Venice'.
• Portrait of the Painter's Mother was shown at Boussod & Valadon's Paris gallery in November 1891 and acquired by Musée du Luxembourg weeks later.
• Van Gogh painted his mother Anna in October 1888 from a photograph, giving her a lively expression.
• Whistler's nocturnes may have inspired van Gogh's 'Starry Night over the Rhône' (September 1888).