Symphony in White, No. 3
Encyclopedia
Symphony in White, No. 3, is a painting by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The work shows two women dressed in white, one sitting on a sofa and the other resting on the floor. The model on the sofa is Joanna Heffernan, the artist's mistress. By calling the painting Symphony in White, No. 3, Whistler intended to emphasise his artistic philosophy of corresponding arts, inspired by the poet Charles Baudelaire
. The presence of a fan on the floor shows the influence of Japonisme, which was a popular artistic trend in European art at the time. Whistler was also greatly influenced by his colleague and friend Albert Joseph Moore
, and their works show considerable similarities.
Though Whistler started on the painting in 1865, he was not ready to exhibit it publicly until 1867, when it went on display at the Royal Academy
. His colleagues were impressed by the painting, but not all critics fully understood the connection between the painting and its title. One review in particular questioned the presence of other colours in addition to white, a criticism which prompted Whistler to respond with a scathing and sarcastic letter. Years later, Whistler's former student Walter Sickert
criticized the painting as "the low-water mark of the old manner, before the birth of the new."
in 1834, the son of George Washington Whistler
, a railway engineer. In 1843, his father relocated the family to Saint Petersburg
, Russia
, where James received training in painting. After a stay in England, he returned to America to attend the US Military Academy
at West Point in 1851. In 1855, he made his way back to Europe, determined to dedicate himself to painting. Here he settled in Paris
at first, but in 1859 moved to London
, where he would spend most of the remainder of his life. There he met Dante Gabriel Rossetti
and other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
, who would have a profound influence on Whistler.
It was also in London that Whistler met Joanna Heffernan, the model who would become his lover. By 1865, Whistler had already used her as a model for other paintings, among these Symphony in White, No. 1 and Symphony in White, No. 2. Heffernan supposedly had a strong influence over Whistler; his brother-in-law Francis Seymour Haden
refused a dinner invitation in the winter of 1863–64 due to her dominant presence in the household. In January 1864, Whistler's mother Anna later depicted in the painting Arrangement in Grey and Black
arrived to stay with her son in London. As a result, Heffernan had to move out of the apartment, and only visited as a model. Still, Heffernan's presence displeased Whistler's mother, and his relationship with both women became strained.
wrote of seeing the painting in Whistler's studio, and mentioned that it was previously called The Two Little White Girls. It then went on display at the Royal Academy
.
The work was greatly admired by Whistler's colleagues, including Henri Fantin-Latour
, Alfred Stevens
, James Tissot
and Edgar Degas
. For Degas, the painting served as an inspiration for his own portrait of Eugénie Fiocre
in the ballet La Source. Some critics, however, were confused by the title. Philip Hamerton
, writing for the Saturday Review
on 1 June 1867, remarked:
Whistler was always belligerent in his response to critics. He wrote a letter to the editor that the newspaper would not print, but was later reprinted by Whistler himself in his book The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
:
The painting was originally bought by the wealthy art collector Louis Huth
, who later also commissioned Whistler to paint a portrait of his wife. It is currently in the ownership of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
, in Birmingham
, England.
. The painting bears close resemblances to Moore's roughly contemporary painting A Musician, though at the time the two were working so closely together that it is hard to ascertain exactly who influenced whom.
The painter Walter Sickert
a student of Whistler later described the painting in unflattering terms. In December 1908, five years after Whistler's death, he wrote in the Fortnightly Review
:
To Whistler himself, however, the painting was not old-fashioned, but rather an expression of something new and innovative. By naming it Symphony in White, No. 3, Whistler highlighted his emphasis on composition, rather than subject matter. The use of a musical title was also an expression of the theory of corresponding arts, which was an idea developed by the French poet Charles Baudelaire
. These tendencies became more and more dominant in Whistler's art over time. His two earlier paintings Symphony in White, No. 1 and Symphony in White, No. 2 had originally been titled The White Girl and The Little White Girl respectively, and later been renamed by the artist. Whistler had originally intended to call this work Two Little White Girls, but the development of his artistic philosophy made him change his mind, and from the time of its first exhibition it has been called by its musical title.
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
. The presence of a fan on the floor shows the influence of Japonisme, which was a popular artistic trend in European art at the time. Whistler was also greatly influenced by his colleague and friend Albert Joseph Moore
Albert Joseph Moore
Albert Joseph Moore was an English painter, known for his depictions of langorous female figures set against the luxury and decadence of the classical world....
, and their works show considerable similarities.
Though Whistler started on the painting in 1865, he was not ready to exhibit it publicly until 1867, when it went on display at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
. His colleagues were impressed by the painting, but not all critics fully understood the connection between the painting and its title. One review in particular questioned the presence of other colours in addition to white, a criticism which prompted Whistler to respond with a scathing and sarcastic letter. Years later, Whistler's former student Walter Sickert
Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert , born in Munich, Germany, was a painter who was a member of the Camden Town Group in London. He was an important influence on distinctively British styles of avant-garde art in the 20th century....
criticized the painting as "the low-water mark of the old manner, before the birth of the new."
Background
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was born in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1834, the son of George Washington Whistler
George Washington Whistler
George Washington Whistler was a prominent American railroad engineer in the first half of the 19th century....
, a railway engineer. In 1843, his father relocated the family to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, where James received training in painting. After a stay in England, he returned to America to attend the US Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point in 1851. In 1855, he made his way back to Europe, determined to dedicate himself to painting. Here he settled in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at first, but in 1859 moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he would spend most of the remainder of his life. There he met Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
and other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti...
, who would have a profound influence on Whistler.
It was also in London that Whistler met Joanna Heffernan, the model who would become his lover. By 1865, Whistler had already used her as a model for other paintings, among these Symphony in White, No. 1 and Symphony in White, No. 2. Heffernan supposedly had a strong influence over Whistler; his brother-in-law Francis Seymour Haden
Francis Seymour Haden
Sir Francis Seymour Haden , was an English surgeon, best known as an etcher.He was born in London, his father, Charles Thomas Haden, being a well-known doctor and lover of music. He was educated at Derby School, Christ's Hospital, and University College, London, and also studied at the Sorbonne,...
refused a dinner invitation in the winter of 1863–64 due to her dominant presence in the household. In January 1864, Whistler's mother Anna later depicted in the painting Arrangement in Grey and Black
Whistler's Mother
Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother, famous under its colloquial name Whistler's Mother, is an 1871 oil-on-canvas painting by American-born painter James McNeill Whistler. The painting is , displayed in a frame of Whistler's own design, and is now owned by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris....
arrived to stay with her son in London. As a result, Heffernan had to move out of the apartment, and only visited as a model. Still, Heffernan's presence displeased Whistler's mother, and his relationship with both women became strained.
Creation and reception
Whistler started on Symphony in White, No. 3 perhaps as early as July 1865. It was the last of his paintings for which Heffernan was a model. He used Milly Jones, the wife of an actor friend, as the second model for the painting. By the middle of August, he had a complete sketch ready, and he continued work on the painting into September. Whistler kept reworking it, however, and it was not until 1867 that he considered it finished. He painted over the final "5" in the date, and replaced it with a "7", to mark the changes it had undergone. In March 1867, William Michael RossettiWilliam Michael Rossetti
William Michael Rossetti was an English writer and critic.-Biography:Born in London, he was a son of immigrant Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti, and the brother of Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Georgina Rossetti.He was one of the seven founder members of the...
wrote of seeing the painting in Whistler's studio, and mentioned that it was previously called The Two Little White Girls. It then went on display at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
.
The work was greatly admired by Whistler's colleagues, including Henri Fantin-Latour
Henri Fantin-Latour
Henri Fantin-Latour was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers.-Biography:...
, Alfred Stevens
Alfred Stevens (painter)
Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens was a Belgian painter.Alfred Stevens was born in Brussels. He came from a family involved with the visual arts: his older brother Joseph and his son Léopold were painters, while another brother Arthur was an art dealer and critic...
, James Tissot
James Tissot
James Jacques Joseph Tissot was a French painter, who spent much of his career in Britain.-Biography:Tissot was born in Nantes, France. In about 1856, he began study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Hippolyte Flandrin and Lamothe, and became friendly with Edgar Degas and James Abbott...
and Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
. For Degas, the painting served as an inspiration for his own portrait of Eugénie Fiocre
Eugénie Fiocre
Eugénie Fiocre was a principal dancer at the Paris Opéra 1864–75 where she often danced en travesti, creating Frantz in Coppélia in 1870, and, renowned for her beauty, was sculpted by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and painted by Degas in a scene from Saint-Léon's ballet La Source...
in the ballet La Source. Some critics, however, were confused by the title. Philip Hamerton
Philip Gilbert Hamerton
Philip Gilbert Hamerton , was an English artist and art critic and author.He was born at Laneside, a hamlet in Crompton, Lancashire, England. His mother died giving birth to him, and his father died ten years later...
, writing for the Saturday Review
Saturday Review (London)
The Saturday Review of politics, literature, science, and art was a London weekly newspaper established by A. J. B. Beresford Hope in 1855....
on 1 June 1867, remarked:
Whistler was always belligerent in his response to critics. He wrote a letter to the editor that the newspaper would not print, but was later reprinted by Whistler himself in his book The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies is a book by the painter James McNeill Whistler, published in 1890. The book was in part a response to, in part a transcript of, Whistler's famous libel suit against critic John Ruskin...
:
The painting was originally bought by the wealthy art collector Louis Huth
Louis Huth
Louis Huth was a British art collector, art dealer and patron of Aesthetic movement artists. He was born at Finsbury in Greater London.Huth was Director of The London Assurance for Fire, Life and Marine Assurance....
, who later also commissioned Whistler to paint a portrait of his wife. It is currently in the ownership of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Barber Institute of Fine Arts
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham....
, in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England.
Composition and interpretation
Symphony in White, No. 3 shows Heffernan reclining on a sofa with her head rested on her hand, while Jones is seated on the floor, leaning against the sofa. There is a fan on the floor, and a plant bearing white flowers on the right. The fan is an oriental element, and an expression of the artistic trend known as Japonisme which was then prevalent in European art. At the time, Whistler was greatly influenced by his friend and colleague Albert Joseph MooreAlbert Joseph Moore
Albert Joseph Moore was an English painter, known for his depictions of langorous female figures set against the luxury and decadence of the classical world....
. The painting bears close resemblances to Moore's roughly contemporary painting A Musician, though at the time the two were working so closely together that it is hard to ascertain exactly who influenced whom.
The painter Walter Sickert
Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert , born in Munich, Germany, was a painter who was a member of the Camden Town Group in London. He was an important influence on distinctively British styles of avant-garde art in the 20th century....
a student of Whistler later described the painting in unflattering terms. In December 1908, five years after Whistler's death, he wrote in the Fortnightly Review
Fortnightly Review
Fortnightly Review was one of the most important and influential magazines in nineteenth-century England. It was founded in 1865 by Anthony Trollope, Frederic Harrison, Edward Spencer Beesly, and six others with an investment of £9,000; the first edition appeared on 15 May 1865...
:
To Whistler himself, however, the painting was not old-fashioned, but rather an expression of something new and innovative. By naming it Symphony in White, No. 3, Whistler highlighted his emphasis on composition, rather than subject matter. The use of a musical title was also an expression of the theory of corresponding arts, which was an idea developed by the French poet Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
. These tendencies became more and more dominant in Whistler's art over time. His two earlier paintings Symphony in White, No. 1 and Symphony in White, No. 2 had originally been titled The White Girl and The Little White Girl respectively, and later been renamed by the artist. Whistler had originally intended to call this work Two Little White Girls, but the development of his artistic philosophy made him change his mind, and from the time of its first exhibition it has been called by its musical title.