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The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler

Past Exhibition

July 3 – October 10, 2022
East Building Mezzanine

Joanna Hiffernan’s close professional and personal relationship with artist James McNeill Whistler lasted more than two decades—yet who was she? She is featured in numerous works by Whistler, including his three famous “Symphony in White” paintings, which are being shown together for the first time in the United States.

While the intriguing “woman in white” has inspired artists from the Victorian era to today, little has been shared about Hiffernan and her influential role in Whistler’s life and work—until now.

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Features

Overview

Many works by James McNeill Whistler feature Joanna Hiffernan, a striking, red-haired woman. She was a consistent presence in his life for more than 20 years, yet we know little about her. Explore her life and role as a model, Whistler's images of her, and later works related to the "woman in white."

Story

Co-Creating

An Interview with Art Models

Professional art models who advised on “The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler” discuss the work of modeling and their role in creating art.

Story

How Whistler Painted White in Full Color

A conservation scientist at the Tate reveals the rainbow of colors James McNeill Whistler used to paint Joanna Hiffernan's iconic white dress.

The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler

Now available

Selected Works

A young woman with pale, peachy skin, wearing a long, flowing white dress, stands in front of a white curtain in this vertical portrait painting. Her auburn-red hair cascades down over and behind her shoulders. She looks to our left with green eyes, and her pink, full lips are closed. Her dress has puffed shoulders above a white-on-white striped pattern on the long sleeves. She stands on an animal pelt; it is not clear whether it is a wolf or a bear. The pelt spans the width of the painting and overlaps a blue patterned carpet. The animal’s mouth gapes to show sharp teeth. Its glassy eyes are wide open, and it seems to look at us. The edges of the animal skin are red. The woman holds a white lily by her side in her left hand, while yellow and purple flowers lie scattered on the pelt.

James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, 1861–1863, 1872, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Harris Whittemore Collection, 1943.6.2

James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl, 1864, oil on canvas, Tate, London, Bequeathed by Arthur Studd 1919, N03418. Image: © Tate, London 2017

James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 3, 1865–1867, oil on canvas, The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, The University of Birmingham, 39.24. Image: Bridgeman Images

James McNeill Whistler, Wapping, 1860–1864, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, John Hay Whitney Collection, 1982.76.8

James McNeill Whistler, Jo, 1861 (state i/i), drypoint on ivory laid paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection, 1949.5.536

James McNeill Whistler, A White Note, oil on canvas, The Lunder Collection, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME, 021.2011

James McNeill Whistler, The Artist in His Studio (Whistler in His Studio), 1865/1872, 1895, oil on paper mounted on panel, The Art Institute of Chicago, Friends of American Art Collection, 1912.141. Image: The Art Institute of Chicago/Art Resource, NY

James McNeill Whistler, Weary, 1863 (state iv/vi), drypoint on ivory Japan paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Myron A. Hofer, 1947.10.5

James McNeill Whistler, Purple and Rose: The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks, 1864, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection, 1917, Cat. 1112

James McNeill Whistler, Battersea Reach, 1862/1863, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (Bequest of James Parmelee; Frame restored in memory of Anne Wallick and Marianna Grove, members of the Women’s Committee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art), 2014.79.35

Gustave Courbet, Jo, la belle Irlandaise, 1865–1866, oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929, 29.100.63

James McNeill Whistler, Sleeping Woman, 1863, chalk and charcoal on cream wove paper mounted on paperboard, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection, 1948.11.306

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ecce Ancilla Domini! (The Annunciation), 1849–1850, oil on canvas, Tate, London, Purchased 1886, N01210. Image: © Tate, London 2017

George Frederic Watts, Lady Dalrymple also known as Sophia Dalrymple, 1851–1853, oil on canvas, Watts Gallery, Compton, Surrey, COMWG.200. Image: Bridgeman Images

John Everett Millais, A Somnambulist, 1871, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Delaware, Courtesy of the Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington. Image: Bridgeman Images

Albert Herter, Portrait of Bessie (Miss Elizabeth Newton), 1892, oil on canvas, High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Purchase with funds from the Margaret and Terry Stent Endowment for the Acquisition of American Art and High Museum of Art Enhancement Fund, 2000.162

Frederick Walker, The Woman in White, 1871, gouache on paper, Tate, London, Presented by Sir Claude Phillips in memory of his sister Eugenie Phillips 1906, N02080. Image: © Tate, London 2017

Fernand Khnopff, Portrait of Madeleine Mabille, 1888, oil with pencil on mahogany panel, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Heinz Family Acquisition Fund, 93.120. Photograph © 2020 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Andrée Karpelès, Symphonie en blanc, 1908, oil on canvas, Musée d’Arts de Nantes, Inv. 2071. Image: Cécile Clos/Musée d’Arts de Nantes, © rights reserved

John Singer Sargent, Fumée d’ambre gris, 1880, oil on canvas, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, 1955.15. Image: Courtesy Clark Art Institute, clarkart.edu

Organization
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Royal Academy of Arts, London

The exhibition has been curated by Margaret F. MacDonald, professor of art history, School of Creative Arts, University of Glasgow, in collaboration with Ann Dumas, curator, Royal Academy of Arts, and consultant curator, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Charles Brock, associate curator, department of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art.

Other venues
Royal Academy of Arts, London, February 23–May 22, 2022

Sponsors
Major support for the international tour of the exhibition is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Passes
Admission is always free and passes are not required.

Banner detail: James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl, 1864, oil on canvas, Tate, London, Bequeathed by Arthur Studd 1919, N03418. Image: © Tate, London 2017