The popular title of a painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black Number 1, by James Whistler, which depicts his mother in profile, dressed in black, and seated on a straight chair.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.