Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl

Painted by James McNeill Whistler in 1864, this work shows a young woman in a white dress standing beside a fireplace with a mirror above it, a fan in her hand. The model was Joanna Heffernan, who was Whistler's partner, although the two never married. A striking detail is the ring on the sitter's finger, which becomes a focal point of the composition and suggests a shift in how Whistler portrayed her, from lover toward wife, at least in the image. The painting was shown at the Royal Academy the following year, where English critics received it with reservations. Whistler also fixed to the frame a poem by his friend Algernon Charles Swinburne, titled Before the Mirror, written on golden paper; for Whistler, it showed that painting did not need to depend on literature. Later he preferred the title Symphony in White, No. 2, stressing his belief in art for art's sake, where composition matters more than subject. Today it is held by the Tate.

Painter

James McNeill Whistler

Date

1864

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

76 × 51 cm

Museum

Tate, London

Genre

portrait

Depicts

girl

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