In her introduction to Mother – Portraits by 40 Great Artists, Juliet Heslewood from Charlbury begins by asking why an artist should portray his or her mother. Is it because she has an interesting face, or was the portrait simply a result of filial affection?

Did the mother take her place in family portraits, or did the picture serve as a record of her looks, rather like a photograph?

She also questions and discusses the exact point in their careers that artists painted their mothers and asks if fathers were portrayed as often and concludes that they weren’t. “This,” says Juliet, “could be due to their availability.”

Juliet got her idea for putting together a book centred on mothers whilst putting together a lecture tour on Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. While working on these artists she suddenly realised that they had both painted their mothers and that started her thinking — were there other artists who painted portraits of their mothers?

Soon Juilet realised she had gathered so many artists that she had the basis for a book. But it was one thing to come up with an idea for a book and quite another to find a publisher, particularly when the book would require expensive reproductions that would add considerably to the printing costs.

She explained that it took seven years to get her book published.

“I approached 33 different publishers before one said yes. Finally, having sent it out for the 34th time, the publishers Frances Lincoln said yes.

“Whilst they accepted that it would prove expensive to print, they saw it as a work worth publishing,” she said, adding that it is a book that would appeal to us all, particularly as a gift on special occasions such as Mother’s Day, Christmas and birthdays. Besides, it is timeless and can go on selling for some considerable time to come.

Juliet is not a mother, but has had close connections with many children over the years. “I have been closely involved in bringing up many children — call me an auntie if you wish — but looking after children calls on motherly instincts that most women have, whether the children are their own or somebody else’s.”

Since putting together her collection of portraits, Juliet has discovered several other artists who painted their mothers, but there comes a time when you have to draw a halt. She stopped at 40, seeing that as the ideal figure.

The first portrait she features is Albrecht Durer’s splendid Portrait of the Artist’s Mother of 1514, worked in charcoal on paper, and created just a few months before she died at 63 years old. It is a picture that reveals Durer’s extraordinary ability to meticulously record what he has observed.

She notes that he has added nothing to the emaciated face and musculature of her neck. We, the observers, are able to view her firmly closed mouth, thinning skin beneath her staring unequal eyes. Even the smallest wrinkles and veins were not ignored. Even the exact date of her death on the third Sunday in Lent was included.

Juliet says that it is as if, through recording these facts, Durer turns a vivid drawing into a certificate or document.

David Hockney used individual photographs of one scene to depict his mother in 1982. She was one of his favourite models.

When Vincent Van Gogh painted his mother in 1888 it was from memory. The result was a superb portrait painted with his typical thick brush stokes and a harmony of greens contrasted against the dark brown of her dress and hat.

Perhaps the most famous of all ‘mother’ portraits was painted in 1871 by James McNeill Whistler. Juliet points out that his mother came to pose for her portrait almost by accident.

“Whistler had been expecting a model for another painting and when she failed to turn up he suggested to his mother that he painted her instead.” The result is a painting entitled Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1; The Artist’s Mother, that is known to us all,” said Juliet.

After waiting so long for her book to be published, Juliet is thrilled to see it in print now. She sees it as a very moving collection, as those artists who painted their mothers were generally very fond of them.

“If an artist didn’t really get on with their mother, they simply didn’t paint her,” she said.

n Mother: Portraits by 40 Great Artists is published by Frances Lincoln at £12.99.