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James McNeill Whistler (artist) American, 1834-1903 Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, 1862 oil on canvas Overall: 213 x 107.9 cm (83 7/8 x 42 1/2 in.) framed: 244.2 x 136.5 x 8.3 cm (96 1/8 x 53 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.) Harris Whittemore Collection 1943.6.2 On View |
When Whistler submitted The White Girl to the Paris Salon in 1863, the tradition-bound jury refused to show the work. Napoleon III invited avant-garde artists who had been denied official space to show their paintings in a "Salon des Refusés," an exhibition that triggered enormous controversy. Whistler's work met with severe public derision, but a number of artists and critics praised his entry. In the Gazette des Beax-Arts, Paul Manz referred to it as a "symphony in white," noting a musical correlation to Whistler's paintings that the artist himself would address in the early 1870s, when he retitled a number of works "Nocturne," "Arrangement," "Harmony," and "Symphony."
Whistler used variations of white pigment to create interesting spatial and formal relationships. By limiting his palette, minimizing tonal contrast, and sharply skewing the perspective in a manner reminiscent of Oriental art, he flattened forms and emphasized their abstract patterns. This dramatic compositional approach reflects the influence of Japanese prints, which were becoming well-known in Paris as international trade increased.
Clearly, Whistler was far more interested in creating an abstract design than in capturing an exact likeness of the model, his mistress Joanna Hiffernan. His radical espousal of a purely aesthetic orientation and the creation of "art for art's sake" became a virtual rallying cry of modernism.