# Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl

**James McNeill Whistler** (American, 1834–1903)  
1861-1863, 1872  
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.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1943.6.2. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.12198.html).

## About this work

A young woman in a long white dress stands against a white curtain, a lily drooping from her hand and flowers scattered on the animal-skin rug at her feet, whose snarling head stares out at us. The model was Joanna Hiffernan, Whistler’s companion. Turned down by the Royal Academy and then by the Paris Salon of 1863, the painting caused a sensation at the Salon des Refusés that year, where critics puzzled over its meaning. For Whistler it was a study in white on white, an arrangement of tones rather than a story, a principle he underlined by later retitling it Symphony in White, No. 1.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

James McNeill Whistler painted this in 1861-1863, 1872, aged about 27. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

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.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [James McNeill Whistler](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/james-mcneill-whistler)

American, 1834–1903; born in Lowell, Massachusetts; died in London

Whistler spent part of his boyhood in Russia, left West Point without graduating and trained as a painter in Paris before settling in London in 1859. He held that a picture was an arrangement of colour and form, and named his works symphonies, harmonies and nocturnes; a hostile review of one nocturne led to his 1878 libel suit against John Ruskin. He was equally committed to etching, and in his Venice plates of 1879–80 he left films of ink on the copper to suggest water and dusk.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was about 27
- Real size: about 84 × 42 in (213 × 108 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: female, Hiffernan, Joanna
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1367.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1367/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/symphony-in-white-no-1-the-white-girl-nga-12198).