Maud Franklin
Encyclopedia
Maud Franklin was an English
artist
and the mistress of and model for artist James McNeill Whistler
.
Franklin was born in Bicester
, Oxfordshire
, England
, one of six children of Charles Franklin, an upholsterer and cabinetmaker, and Mary Clifton, after whom she was christened 'Mary'. She may have posed for Whistler as early as 1872, as a stand-in for his portrait of Mrs. Frances Leyland, when she was fifteen.
By the late 1870s she was serving as a model to Whistler for etchings and painted portraits, most notably the Arrangement in White and Black. She also was the initial model for what would be the Portrait of Miss Florence Leyland, as well as Harmony in Grey and Peach Colour, numerous other oils, drawings, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs.
Franklin had two daughters by Whistler: Ione (born circa 1877) and Maud McNeill Whistler Franklin (born 1879). She sometimes referred to herself as 'Mrs. Whistler', and in the census of 1881 gave her name as 'Mary M. Whistler'.
She was not always well treated by Whistler; at the time of his libel trial with John Ruskin
in January of 1879 he left Franklin, then pregnant, in a London hotel under the pretense that he was in Paris.
Following Whistler's bankruptcy later that year she accompanied him to Venice, but was not accepted into society. In the 1880s her health suffered, and she was the subject of watercolors by Whistler depicting her in bed.
During the 1880s she exhibited her own artwork at the Grosvenor Gallery
under the pseudonym
Clifton Lin, and at the Society of British Artists.
After Whistler married Beatrice Godwin in 1888, Franklin moved to Paris. She married a New York man named John A. Little; in 1904 he died, and around 1911 Franklin married another American
, Richard H.S. Abbott, and lived near Cannes
until her death.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and the mistress of and model for artist James McNeill Whistler
James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
.
Franklin was born in Bicester
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, one of six children of Charles Franklin, an upholsterer and cabinetmaker, and Mary Clifton, after whom she was christened 'Mary'. She may have posed for Whistler as early as 1872, as a stand-in for his portrait of Mrs. Frances Leyland, when she was fifteen.
By the late 1870s she was serving as a model to Whistler for etchings and painted portraits, most notably the Arrangement in White and Black. She also was the initial model for what would be the Portrait of Miss Florence Leyland, as well as Harmony in Grey and Peach Colour, numerous other oils, drawings, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs.
Franklin had two daughters by Whistler: Ione (born circa 1877) and Maud McNeill Whistler Franklin (born 1879). She sometimes referred to herself as 'Mrs. Whistler', and in the census of 1881 gave her name as 'Mary M. Whistler'.
She was not always well treated by Whistler; at the time of his libel trial with John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
in January of 1879 he left Franklin, then pregnant, in a London hotel under the pretense that he was in Paris.
Following Whistler's bankruptcy later that year she accompanied him to Venice, but was not accepted into society. In the 1880s her health suffered, and she was the subject of watercolors by Whistler depicting her in bed.
During the 1880s she exhibited her own artwork at the Grosvenor Gallery
Grosvenor Gallery
The Grosvenor Gallery was an art gallery in London founded in 1877 by Sir Coutts Lindsay and his wife Blanche. Its first directors were J. Comyns Carr and Charles Hallé...
under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Clifton Lin, and at the Society of British Artists.
After Whistler married Beatrice Godwin in 1888, Franklin moved to Paris. She married a New York man named John A. Little; in 1904 he died, and around 1911 Franklin married another American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Richard H.S. Abbott, and lived near Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
until her death.