Mothers are Universalized in Photographic Work of Aline Smithson

Everyone can relate to having a mother, and Aline Smithson ran into a chance encounter with a garage sale reproduction of the famous "Whistler's Mother" painting (Arrangement in Gray and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother by James Abbott Whistler). On the same weekend, serendipity struck when she found a leopard coat and hat along with a Fifties cat painting and a chair that closely resembled the one in Whistler's painting. She approached her mother and created a series of wonderfully witty and sensitively colored portraits of her mother (who didn't live to see the final exhibition of the entire series or witness their popularity around the world).

"Dressing up my mother" was one of the photographer's lighthearted goals, but the project also brought them closer and the results show. This featured Art2Share video shows a gallery interview with Smithson and samples from her Arrangement in Green and Black: Portrait of the Photographer's Mother series.