School of Trivia

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School of Trivia
Season 29, Day 6 - "Put Your Lips Together and Blow"

Season 29, Day 6 - "Put Your Lips Together and Blow"

It's Mother week, and today's quiz is inspired by Whistler's Mother.

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Alex Jacob
Aug 28, 2024
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School of Trivia
Season 29, Day 6 - "Put Your Lips Together and Blow"
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Whistler’s Mother

Whistler’s Mother is the common name of Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 by American painter James Whistler. It is a portrait of the artist’s mother in a long black dress and white lace cap, sitting in a chair and looking off to the left. The painting is currently displayed at the Musée d'Orsay, a Paris art museum that was once a train station. Commonly referenced in pop culture, Whistler’s Mother appears in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and is central to the plot of the movie Bean (based on the British sitcom Mr. Bean), in which it’s ruined by the bumbling title character. It’s also mentioned in the song “You’re the Top” from the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes (“You’re an O’Neill drama / You’re Whistler’s mama…”) and was said to have had a profound effect on the French composer Claude Debussy.

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