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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.

Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, 1861-1863, 1872

James McNeill Whistler

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 69

When The White Girl debuted in London in 1862, it puzzled viewers. At the time, portraits of this scale usually featured well-known people. The subject here is Joanna Hiffernan, an Irish immigrant with little standing in British society. Hiffernan was Whistler’s primary model and collaborator during the early 1860s.

Whistler created two more paintings of Hiffernan in white dresses, eventually grouping all three under the shared title Symphony in White. Surprising audiences yet again, he declared that, like music, these works were solely about abstract qualities such as line and color.

Despite the artist’s stated intentions, this imposing image of Hiffernan seems to have a story to tell. What does it say to you?

Dive deeper

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 Beaux–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, 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 more interested in creating an abstract design than in capturing an exact likeness of the model, 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.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II, pages 238-244, which is available as a free PDF.

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Object Data

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

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.)

Credit Line

Harris Whittemore Collection

Accession Number

1943.6.2

Artists / Makers

James McNeill Whistler (artist) American, 1834 - 1903

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Detail Information

Inscription

upper right: Whistler. 1862

Provenance

Sold 1866 by the artist to his half-brother, George W. Whistler [d. 1869], London, but retained possession; bequeathed to his wife, Mrs. George W. Whistler [d. 1875]; sent 1875 by the artist to her son, Thomas Delano Whistler, Baltimore, Maryland; sold 28 February 1896 for Thomas D. Whistler by (Boussod Valladon & Cie, New York) to Harris Whittemore [1864-1927], Naugatuck, Connecticut; sold 1897 to his father, John Howard Whittemore [d. 1910], Naugatuck, Connecticut; bequeathed to the J.H. Whittemore Company, Naugatuck, Connecticut, with life interest to John Howard Whittemore's daughter, Miss Gertrude B. Whittemore [d. 1941], Naugatuck, Connecticut;[1] gift 1943 to NGA.

[1] Andrew McLaren Young, Margaret F. MacDonald, and Robin Spencer, with the assistance of Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven, 1980: 18, lists the last owners of the painting as Harris Whittemore's son and daughter, Harris Whittemore, Jr., and Mrs. Charles S. Upson. They were officers of the J. H. Whittemore Company (Harris Whittemore, Jr., was President), the actual owner of the painting.

Associated Names

Boussod et Valadon
Whistler, George William
Whistler, George William, Mrs.
Whistler, Thomas Delano
Whittemore Company, J.H.
Whittemore, Gertrude B., Miss
Whittemore, Harris
Whittemore, John Howard

Exhibition History

1862: Morgan's Gallery, London, 1862, no. 42, as The Woman in White, cat. untraced.

1863: Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, gravure, lithographie et architecture, refusés par le Jury de 1863, et exposés, par décision de S. M. l'Empereur, au salon annexe (Salon des Refusés), Palais de Champs Elysées, Paris, 1863, no. 596, as Dame blanche.

1863: Possibly The Artists' and Amateurs' Conversazione, Willis' Rooms, London, 1863, as The Woman in White.

1863: Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Martinet's Gallery, Paris, 1863.

1867: Universal Exhibition, U.S.A. Section, Paris, 1867, two catalogues: no. 68 and no. 75, as The White Girl.

1876: Charity Art Exhibition, Academy of Music, Baltimore, 1876, no. 43, as "A Girl in White".

1881: Loan Collection of Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1881, no. 60, as The White Girl.

1881: The Union League Club, New York, 1881, cat. untraced.

1894: Loan Collections, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1894, no. 252, as The White Girl.

1895: Loan Collections, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1895, no. 253, as The White Girl.

1898: Loan Exhibition of Portraits for the Benefit of the Orthopaedic Hospital, National Academy of Design, New York, 1898-1899, no. 254, as The Woman in White.

1904: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels, & Drawings, Copley Society of Boston, Copley Hall, Boston, 1904, no. 71, as The White Girl.

1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, London, 1905, no. 37, as The Woman in White, Symphony in White, No. 1.

1905: Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905, no. 4, as Symphony in White No. 1, The White Girl.

1910: Paintings in Oil and Pastel by James A. McNeill Whistler, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1910, no. 3, as Symphony in White I: The White Girl.

1931: Pictures of People, 1870-1930: A Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of Hope Farm, M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1931, no. 4, as The White Girl.

1932: American Painting and Sculpture, 1862-1932, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1932-1933, no. 113, as Woman in White.

1933: Possibly Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists [opening exhibition], Grand Central Galleries, Fifth Avenue Branch, New York, 1933.

1934: A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago, June-October 1934, no. 433, repro. 66, as The White Girl.

1934: Oils, Water-colors, Drawings and Prints by James McNeill Whistler, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, April-May 1934, no. 4, as The White Girl.

1936: Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1936, no. 377, repro. LXXV, as The White Girl, Symphony in White, No. 1.

1938: Exhibition of Paintings, The Tuttle House, Naugatuck, Connecticut, 1938, no. 42, frontispiece.

1939: Art in Our Time: an Exhibition to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the Museum of Modern Art and the opening of its New Building held at the time of the New York World's Fair, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1939, no. 45, as The White Girl.

1940: Golden Gate International Exposition, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, May-September 1940, no. 1221, as The White Girl, repro.

1940: Modern Masters from European and American Collections, Museum of Modern Art, New York, January-March 1940, no. 1, as The White Girl, repro.

1940: Old Masters and Modern American and French paintings from the San Francisco Exposition, and the Los Angeles County Fair, and from individual dealers, The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, October-November 1940, no cat.

1941: Paintings from the Whittemore Collection, Mattatuck Historical Society, Waterbury, Connecticut, 1941, no. 35, as The White Girl.

1949: De Gustibus...An Exhibition of American Paintings illustrating A Century of Taste and Criticism, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1949, no. 15.

1950: Diamond Jubilee Exhibition: Masterpieces of Painting, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1950-1951, no. 65, as The White Girl.

1954: Sargent, Whistler and Mary Cassatt, Art Institute of Chicago; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1954, no. 94, color repro., as The White Girl: Symphony in White, No. 1.

1957: American Classics of the Nineteenth Century, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1957-1958, no. 51, as The White Girl (travelling exhibition, 5 venues, shown only in Pittsburgh).

1965: The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1968: James McNeill Whistler, Art Institute of Chicago; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, 1968, no. 3.

1971: From Realism to Symbolism: Whistler and His World, Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1971, no. 12, as The White Girl (Symphony in White, No. 1) (organized by Columbia University).

1988: Amerikanische Malerei des 18 und 19. Jahrhunderts, Orangerie of the Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin; Kunsthaus Zürich, 1988-1989, no. 67 (organized by Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz Berlin).

1994: James McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London; Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1994-1995, no. 14, repro.

1995: Loan for display with permanent collection, Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1995-1996.

1997: Loan for display with permanent collection, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997-1998.

1997: The Victorians: British Painting in the Reign of Queen Victoria, 1837-1901, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1997, no. 28, color repro.

1999: America: The New World in 19th-Century Painting, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, 1999, no. 125, repro.

2003: After Whistler: The Artist and His Influence on American Painting, High Museum of Art, Atlanta; The Detroit Institute of Arts, 2003-2004, no. 1, repro.

2006: Americans in Paris 1860-1900, The National Gallery, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2006-2007, no. 19.

2011: The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Musée d'Orsay, Paris; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2011-2012, unnumbered catalogue, pl. 14.

Bibliography

1867: Tuckerman 1867, 486.

1903: Way, T.R., and G.R. Dennis. The Art of James McNeill Whistler: An Appreciation. London, 1903: 26.

1905: Bénédite, Léonce. "Artistes contemporains: Whistler." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 33-34 (1905): 233, 507, 510-511, pl. V.

1905: Isham, Samuel. The History of American Painting. New York, 1905: 333.

1907: Cary, Elizabeth Luther. The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of the Artist's Works. New York, 1907: 37-41, repro.

1908: Pennell, Elizabeth Robins and Joseph Pennell. The Life of James McNeill Whistler. 2 vols. London, 1908: 1:94-98, 102-103, 140-141, 144, 157.

1910: Paintings in Oil and Pastel by James A. McNeill Whistler. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1910: 3-6.

1917: Duret, Théodore. Whistler. Translated by Frank Rutter. London, 1917: 14-16, 20-22, 45, 148 (original edition, Paris, 1904).

1921: Pennell, Elizabeth Robins. The Whistler Journal. Philadelphia, 1921: 4, 144.

1944: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 162, color repro., as The White Girl.

1956: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 56, color repro., as The White Girl.

1959: Bouton, Margaret. American Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number One in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 32, color repro., as The White Girl.

1960: The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 26, as The White Girl.

1963: Sutton, Denys. Nocturne: The Art of James McNeill Whistler. London, 1963: 36-38, fig. 6.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 292, repro., as The White Girl.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:494, color repro., as The White Girl.

1966: Sutton, Denys. James McNeill Whistler: Paintings, Etchings, Pastels, Watercolours. London, 1966: 10, 47-48, 187, color pl. 25, pl. 29, detail.

1968: Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 15, 156-157, color repro.

1968: Sweet, Frederick A. James McNeill Whistler. Exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago, 1968: 54, color pl. 3.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 122, repro., as The White Girl.

1973: Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 127, [129] repro., 133.

1978: Fleming, Gordon. The Young Whistler. London, 1978: 171-174, 189-191, fig. 23.

1978: Newton, Judith Vale, and Margaret F. MacDonald. "Whistler: Search for a European Reputation." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 41, no. 1 (1978): 150-152, fig. 2.

1978: Taylor, Hilary. James McNeill Whistler. London, 1978: 27-29, color pl. 5.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 259, repro.

1980: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 9, 16, no. 42, color repro.

1980: Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, and Robin Spencer, with the assistance of Hamish Miles. The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler. 2 vols. New Haven, 1980: 1:17-20, no. 38; 2:pl. 28, 369, 370.

1981: Johnson, Ron. "Whistler's Musical Modes: Symbolist Symphonies." Arts 55, no. 8 (April 1981): 164-168, fig. 1.

1981: Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: repro. 128, 130.

1984: Curry, David Park. James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art, 1984, pp. 38-43, no. 46.

1984: Stein, Donna. Whistler. New York, 1984: 9-10, color pl. 3.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 558, no. 849, color repro.

1988: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 142, no. 48, color repro.

1990: Fink, Lois Marie. American Art at the Nineteenth Century Paris Salons. Washington and Cambridge, England, 1990: 230-231, 264, 79-83, 102, color pl. 7.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 379, repro.

1992: National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 238, repro.

1994: Anderson, Ronald, and Anne Koval. James McNeill Whistler: Beyond the Myth. New York, 1994: 106-109, 133-135, color pl. 4.

1994: Craven, Wayne. American Art: History and Culture. New York, 1994: 343, fig. 23.17.

1994: Dorment, Richard, and Margaret F. MacDonald. James McNeill Whistler. Exh. cat. Tate Gallery, London; Musée D'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. London, 1994: no. 14, 76-78, color repro.

1995: Chaleyssin, Patrick. James McNeill Whistler: The Strident Cry of the Butterfly. Bournemouth, England, 1995: 22-26, color repro.

1995: Koval, Anne. Whistler and His Time. London, 1995: 32-36.

1997: Hughes, Robert. American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America. New York, 1997:239, color fig. 145.

1998: Adler, Shane. “Whiteness." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:939.

1998: Merill, Linda. The Peacock Room: A Cultural Biography. Washington D.C., Freer Gallery of Art, 1998: 43-50, fig. 1.2, repro.

1998: Spencer, Robin. "Whistler's 'The White Girl': painting, poetry and meaning." The Burlington Magazine 140, no. 1142 (May 1998): 300-311, repro.

1998: Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 238-244, color repro.

1999: Funnell, Peter, et al. Millais: Portraits. London, National Portrait Gallery, 1999: 113, 114, 116, repro.

1999: L'Enfant, Julie. William Rossetti's Art Criticism: The Search for Truth in Victorian Art. New York, 1999: 180-181, repro. fig. 4.6.

2001: Bruson, Jean-Marie, and Fischer, Diane P., eds. Paris 1900: Les Artistes Américains à l'Exposition Universelle. Exh. cat. Musée Carnavalet, Paris, 2001: 35 (not in the exhibition).

2001: Paris 1900: Les artistes Américains à L'exposition Universelle. Exh. cat. Musée Carnavalet, Paris. Paris, 2001: 35.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 336-337, no. 271, color repro.

2006: Brock, Charles. Charles Sheeler: Across Media. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Art Institute of Chicago; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 2006-2007. Washington and Berkeley., 2006: 14, fig. 3.

2006: Søndergaard, Sidsel Maria. Women in Impressionism: From Mythical Feminine to Modern Woman. Exh. cat. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Milan, 2006: 118, 124 fig. 100, 132 n. 26.

2006: Whistler and Russia. Exh. cat. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg. Moscow, 2006: repro. 23.

2007: Goldin, Marco, ed. America! Storie di pittura dal Nuovo Mondo. 2 vols. Treviso, 2007: 1:379, repro.; 2:146.

2008: High Society. American Portraits of the Gilded Age. Exh. cat. Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg. Munich, 2008: 69, 70 fig. 10.

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2022: Brock, Charles. "Exhibitions." Art for the Nation no. 65 (Spring 2022): 26-27, repro.

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2023: Murphy, Paul Thomas. Falling Rocket: James Whistler, John Ruskin, and the Battle for Modern Art. New York, 2023: 13-14, 16, color plate.