Maud Franklin (1857 - 1939): Mistress of James McNeill Whistler

Maud Franklin was born on 9th January 1857 in Bicester, Oxfordshire - one of the six children of Charles Franklin (an upholsterer and cabinet maker) and his wife Mary Franklin, née Clifton. 

By the late 1870's, Maud had moved to London, and was working as a model for world-renowned artist James McNeill Whistler; the two very quickly became an item. Maud gave birth to two children, both sired by Whistler. Although Maud referred to herself as 'Mrs Whistler', she and James never actually married.

It would seem that Maud's lover treated her rather badly at times - in January 1879, he abandoned Maud (who was pregnant at the time) in a London hotel without warning, under the pretense of needing to rush off to Paris, although he apparently never actually left London, and instead spent that time socialising with his upper-class friends!

Following Whistler's bankruptcy later that same year, Maud accompanied him to Venice, but she was sadly not accepted into society; not only were the couple unmarried, but Maud was also of a lower social status, meaning that she could never truly fit in. 

Maud was actually a very good artist in her own right, and had no doubt picked up a few tips from her lover; during the 1880's, she exhibited her own work under the pseudonym 'Clifton Lin' (combining parts of her mother's maiden name and father's surname) at the Grosvenor Gallery, and at the Society of British Artists.

In 1888, James married Beatrice Goodwin, who was eminently more suitable for a man of his standing. Devastated by his betrayal, Maud relocated to Paris with her children for a while, then emigrated to New York, where she married a man named John Little. When John died in 1904, she married again, this time to Richard Abbott. They lived in Cannes until Maud's death in 1939, aged 82.

Her two illegitimate daughters, both sired by Whistler, were:

1. Ione McNeill Whistler Franklin, born 1877.

2. Maud McNeill Whistler Franklin, born 1879.

Whistler reportedly sent money to Maud regularly, in order to provide for their children.

Above: 'Arrangement in Black and White' - a painting by James McNeill Whistler, 1876; Maud had posed as the model for this particular piece. Source: Wikipedia.