Whistler’s Symphony in White, No. 1 – Lines and Colors

Symphony in White, No 1: The White Girl, James McNeill Whistler; oii on canvas, roughly 84 x 42 inches (213 x 108 cm)

It’s been my observation that in master paintings the majority of edges are soft, reserving the hard edges for focusing the viewer’s eye on the primary area of interest.

In this remarkable full-length portrait by Whistler of his frequent model Jo Hiffernen, it looks as though almost all of the edges are soft, with the exception of elements of the dress and the bear rug.

Normally in portraits with soft edges around the face and hair, there is at least hard edge focus on the eyes if nothing else. Here, even the eyes are soft, lending the entire face a somewhat etherial look.

What is present, however, are rough brushy textures throughout – a fascinating contrast to the softly defined edges.

This painting was also notable at the time in the presentation of of his model as a full length portrait. This was a luxurious treatment usually reserved for portraits of the elite of society, not a not a relatively undistinguished Irish immigrant – an “ordinary” girl.

The painting is in the National Gallery of Art, DC, which offers both a zoomable and downloadable image. The latter is not as large as the former, however; so for a high res downloadable file, I’ll send you to Wikimedia Commons, where you can download a 10,509 × 21,071 pixel image.