The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Symphony in White, No. 3 was originally signed and dated 1865, the date being later altered to 1867. ¹ It may then have been worked on occasionally until 1873.

1865: Joanna Hiffernan (b. ca 1843-d.1886) posed for this painting, and appears in the Sketch of 'Symphony in White No. 3' m0323, sent by Whistler in a letter to Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) on 16 August 1865:

Sketch of 'Symphony in White No. 3', Library of Congress

'... c'est surtout la composition qui m'occupe voici ou j'en suis

fond gris très fin [sketch:] canapé blanc / bleu clair tres fin

[to left of sketch:] Jo en robe de toile très blanc, la même robe que la fille blanche d'autrefois - cette figure est tout ce que j'ai fait de plus pur - tête charmante. Le corps, les jambes, etc., se voient parfaitement à travers la robe

[to right of sketch:] tête blonde, robe de soie blanche jaunatre - ce que l'on appelle foulard - quelque fleurs pourpre foncé tombées par terre près la robe jaunâtre.' ²

[Translation:] '... it is above all the composition that occupies me this is where I have got to

very delicate grey background / [sketch:] white couch / very delicate light blue

[to left of sketch:] Jo in a very white linen dress, the same dress as the white girl earlier - the figure is the purest I have done - charming head. The body, legs, etc., can be seen perfectly through the dress

[to right of sketch:] fair hair, yellowish white silk dress - what is known as foulard - some dark purple flowers on the ground next to the yellowish dress.'

It is possible that Whistler borrowed a 'Chinese blue and white [rug]' from Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) to include in this picture. ³

In November 1865 Whistler's mother Anna Matilda Whistler (1804-1881) wrote to him, 'I hope you may add to the Sofa as many beautiful touches as you did to the little white girl & that Houth [sic] may be so charmed he may add more of Whistlers to his own collection.' ⁴ This suggests that Louis Huth (1821-1905) bought it before it was completed.

1866: On 17 January, shortly before he left for Valparaiso, Whistler begged one of the models, the 16 year old Emelie 'Millie' Eyre Jones (1850-1920), to 'sit again for a few days', possibly for this painting, as 'the picture is wanted at once.' ⁵

1867: In February Whistler wrote to the Belgian artist Alfred Émile-Léopold Stevens (1823-1906) describing a painting, probably Symphony in White, No. 3 y061, which was being taken to Paris:

'Mon frère raporte avec lui le petit tableau - je serai bien aise de le savoir dans le salon du Club ... j'aimerai bien avoir de vous un petit mot pour me dire si il vous plait - Vous verrez bien que j'ai encore quelques petites choses à faire pour entièrement l'achever - les mains ne sont qu'indiquées - je toucherai aussi plus tard aux fleurs -

Mais comme tableau, ensemble, etc., c'est assez pour être vu par les artistes.' ⁶

Translation: 'My brother is bringing the little painting with him. I would be very glad to know that it was in the salon of the Club. ... I would very much like to have a little word from you to tell me if you like it. You will clearly see that I still have little things to do to complete it altogether - the hands are only sketched in - I shall also touch up the flowers later.

But as a painting, composition, etc., it's enough for it to be seen by artists.'

This implies that Whistler was still working on Symphony in White, No. 3.

H. E. Degas, Sketch after Symphony in White, No. 3, Notebook 20, Musée du Louvre RF5634, p. 17

It was almost certainly at this time, in February 1867 in Paris, that Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (1834-1917) made a rough sketch of the composition in a notebook. ⁷

On 31 March 1867 William Michael Rossetti (1829-1919) called in to see what Whistler intended to send to the Royal Academy in May, and discovered that 'he means to send Symphony in White No. 3 (heretofore named The Two Little White Girls).' ⁸ To this end, the original date of '1865' on the painting was changed to '1867'. A comparison of the present state of the oil with an early photograph (Lucas Collection, Baltimore) taken before the date was changed, shows several minor alterations, which could date from early 1867, before the oil was exhibited at the RA.

Symphony in White, No. 3, Barber Institute of Fine Arts

It was exhibited at the 99th Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1867 (cat. no. 233) as 'Symphony in White No. 3'.

1868: In February and March 1868 one of the models, either Emelie 'Millie' Eyre Jones (1850-1920) or her sister Augusta Maria Jones (1843-1902), was still posing for Whistler, possibly for this oil, at the studio of Frederick Jameson (1839-1916) at 62 Great Russell Street, London. ⁹ Joanna Hiffernan (b. ca 1843-d.1886) was probably also posing at that time.

1873: In January Whistler told Louis Huth that the 'two figures' painting was one of two requiring further work that he would undertake 'directly the Academy work is over - and you can see as they progress whether you like to keep them for yourself.' ¹⁰ It was exhibited in the Sixth Exhibition of the Society of French Artists [Summer Exhibition], Deschamps Gallery, London, 1873 (cat. no. 112).

Images

Subject

Titles

One principle title is known, but there were some variations:

• 'the Sofa' (1865, A. M. Whistler). ¹³
• 'Symphony in White, No. III. (heretofore named The Two Little White Girls)' (1867, W. M. Rossetti). ¹⁴
• 'Symphony in White No. 3' (1867, Royal Academy of Arts). ¹⁵
• 'Symphonie en blanc no. 3' (1883, Whistler). ¹⁶
• 'Symphony in White, No. III' (1892, Goupil). ¹⁷
• 'Symphony in White, No. 3' (1980, YMSM). ¹⁸

The preferred title is 'Symphony in White, No. 3'. It was the first of Whistler's paintings to be exhibited with a musical title, although Paul Mantz (1821-1895) had called Whistler's first 'White Girl' a 'Symphonie du blanc' in 1863 (see Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl y038). ¹⁹ The Pennells point out that this may have been a factor that influenced Whistler in his choice of titles for the third in the series. ²⁰ The first two were renamed later to fit into the sequence (see Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl y038, Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl y052).

Philip Gilbert Hamerton (1834-1894) complained, when Symphony in White, No. 3 was first exhibited in 1867, that it was 'not precisely a symphony in white', since other colours appeared. ²¹ Whistler's celebrated response was probably not written at that time. A version was written by Whistler in the margin of a press cutting book and dated 'Nov. 1878'. ²² Variations were published in 1887 and again in 1890 (dated 'Chelsea, June 1867'). The 1887 version reads:

'And does he then, in his astounding consequence, believe that a symphony in F contains no other note, but shall be a continued repetition of F, F, F?.... Fool!' ²³

Description

Symphony in White, No. 3, Barber Institute of Fine Arts

A figure composition in horizontal format. A straight backed sofa covered in white stands on a pale blue patterned carpet. At left, a young woman with red hair reclines on the sofa, leaning on her right arm, with her left arm stretched along the back of the sofa. She looks directly at the viewer. She wears a white high-necked dress with narrow white trimming, and long sleeves of fine gathered muslin with low, double-capped, shoulders. At right, another red-haired woman sits on the floor, in profile to left, with her right arm stretched out along the sofa and her left arm relaxed on her knees, with a fan leaning against her knee. She is wearing a pale cream or ivory coloured dress, with floppy puffed sleeves, fitting closely from above the elbow. There are blossoms in the lower right corner.

The structure of the sofa (which is painted parallel to the horizontal sides of the painting), and its relationship to the room and to the wall panel and curtain at right, is not at all clear. Exactly where the sofa back ends at left is unknown, because it is concealed by the model, but the seat appears to extend further to left than the (invisible) back of the sofa. ²⁴

Sitter

Two models posed for this painting. The woman on the sofa was Joanna Hiffernan (b. ca 1843-d.1886). The other sitter was Emelie 'Millie' Eyre Jones (1850-1920), who married Stuart Robson (1836-1903) (1836-1903) in 1870. Her sister Augusta Maria Jones (1843-1902) also posed for Whistler, though not necessarily for this painting.

In 1865 Whistler described the figure of Hiffernan as 'tout ce que j'ai fait de plus pur - tête charmante. Le corps, les jambes, etc., se voient parfaitement à travers la robe' and he described the other model as 'tête blonde, robe de soie blanche jaunatre.' ²⁵ Thirty years later he recalled Hiffernan's hair, as shown in the painting, as 'red - or copper coloured - and full of light - and the face is very fair - though golden.' ²⁶

The Pennells suggested that in the intervals of painting Symphony in White, No. 3 y061 Whistler painted The Artist's Studio from the same two models. ²⁷ Sittings for Symphony in White, No. 3 probably overlapped with those for The Artist's Studio and The Artist in his Studio (Whistler in his Studio) y063.

Albert Moore, Portrait of a girl, probably Milly Jones, Sotheby's 2016

Milly Jones also sat for other artists including Albert Joseph Moore (1841-1893). A drawing after Moore, reproduced above, shows similar features to Whistler's model. It may be a study for the head of one of the girls in his painting A Musician of 1865-1866 (Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven). ²⁸ Jones also posed nude for Moore's painting Azaleas (1867, Victoria & Albert Museum).

Frederick Sandys, Gentle Spring, 1863-1865, Ashmolean Museum

Other works for which she posed include a chalk drawing, Study for head of Miss Milly Jones, by Edward John Poynter (1836-1919) (Bonham's, 2 March 2016, lot 69) and several paintings by Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys (1829-1904): Gentle Spring (1863-1865, Ashmolean Museum, reproduced above), May Margaret (1865-1866, Delaware Art Museum), Berenice, Queen of Egypt (1867, Leighton House Museum), and Valkyrie (1868, Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead).

Technique

Composition

Study for 'Symphony in White No. 3', Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute

There is a pencil and crayon drawing for the composition, r.: Study for 'Symphony in White No. 3'; v.: Draped figures m0322, showing both figures seated on the sofa with their heads close together on the right.

Study of a draped reclining woman, The Hunterian

Draped figure seated, holding a fan, The Hunterian

Other drawings suggest Whistler was exploring various poses with seated figures in semi-classical robes. These include Study of a draped reclining woman m0326 and Draped figure seated, holding a fan m0327.

Sketch of 'Symphony in White, No. 3', Library of Congress

By the time Whistler wrote to Fantin-Latour in August 1865, and sent him a drawing, Sketch of 'Symphony in White No. 3' m0323, the composition had been worked out. He was particularly pleased with the relationship of the arms of the two women to each other and to the back of the sofa, 'Comment trouve la ligne du haut? n'est ce pas bien - et puis l'arrangement de deux bras sur le canapé.' ²⁹ Curiously, some perceived deficiency in the painting of the arms was criticised by an otherwise complimentary art critic in 1867, who considered the figures 'badly drawn.' ³⁰

Hiffernan wore the dress she had worn for 'la fille blanche d'autrefois', Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl y038. Whistler also told Fantin that 'quelque fleurs pourpre foncé tombées par terre près la robe jaunâtre' and the carpet was a 'bleu clair tres fin.' ³¹ Eventually the carpet was subdued to a blue grey, while the azaleas on the right are white, although among them are two sprays of Dutchman's Breeches touched with the palest of purple.

A comparison of the present state of the painting with an early photograph taken 1865/1867, before the date was changed (Lucas Collection, Baltimore), shows several minor alterations, in particular to the drapery behind Milly and to the flowers on the right. It is not known when these alterations were made, but they probably date from early 1867, before the painting was exhibited at the RA.

As several writers pointed out (from 1867 onwards), in Symphony in White, No. 3 y061 Whistler's subject matter and technique began to resemble that of Albert Joseph Moore (1841-1893). ³² Moore and Whistler met in 1865. Their mutual admiration resulted in a series of paintings in which it would be very difficult indeed to say who influenced whom. They adopted similar subjects, technique, titles and monograms (see Study of a Female Figure y081, Symphony in Blue and Pink y086, The Three Girls y088, and Tanagra y092). The painting Moore exhibited at the RA in 1865, The Marble Seat (cat. no. 586), could have been the first inspiration for Symphony in White, No. 3 y061. ³³ Moore's A Musician (Yale Center for British Art) was also exhibited in the RA in 1867 (cat. no. 235). ³⁴ On the right of Moore's composition are two seated women, in pose relating closely to Whistler's original drawing for Symphony in White, No. 3 y061.In 1867 Moore's and Whistler's paintings were hung close together and were compared by art journalists of the time including the art critic of the London Daily News:

'Mr. A. Moore is another of the idealistic painters who deserves mention in connexion with the subject, for his little picture called "The Musicians" (236) – group of figures in classic dresses playing instruments – painted in a delicate key of colour scarcely deeper in tint than that of a cameo. Mr. Whistler, too, in what he calls "A symphony in white, No. 3" (233), furnishes us with another instance of non-consent to the general fashion of painting highly-coloured pictures. Of course these painters are denying themselves a great deal when they limit their palette in this way ; and we must say that it is scarcely worth while to do this for the sake of accomplishing a few dainty gradations of pearly tints.' ³⁵

Likewise the 'Saunterer in Society', reviewing the exhibition in Fun, commented:

'Whistler seems to have been rather cruelly treated. His "Symphony in White; No. III." is evidently part of a harmonious series, which cannot be properly judged by itself, though it is a fine tour de force. A. Moore, who paints in a somewhat similar key, exhibits an admirable picture entitled "Musicians," extremely delicate in colour and clever in drawing.' ³⁶

As Prettejohn comments, in 1867 it was clear that Frederick Leighton (1830-1896), Moore, and Whistler shared similar preoccupations with visual rhythms and music making: Leighton's Spanish Dancing Girl, Moore's A Musician and Whistler's Symphony in White, No. 3, 'experiment with similar compositional type', with an asymmetrical grouping of figures dressed in semi-classical robes 'arranged on a bench in a shallow foreground space ... All three are ambiguous in period location.' ³⁷

Technique

Symphony in White, No. 3, Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Symphony in White, No. 3, verso

It is painted with fairly thin paint, of a creamy consistency, with expressive, flowing brushstrokes. The brushstrokes on the skirt are laid over one another, the edges of each stroke still showing the underlying brushwork. The modelling of the legs and dress is shown convincingly, with the weight of the body being clearly conveyed. The face of the woman at left was painted with much smaller, pointed sable brushes, in careful but expressive brushstrokes; the warm colours of the skin contrast with her bright blue eyes. The model at right is dressed in white of a more yellow shade, slightly browned towards the lower edge, where it is in shadow. ³⁸

Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942), writing it must be said in response to the adoring tone of the Pennells' 1908 biography of Whistler, was extremely critical of Whistler's technique in this painting:

'A bad picture … badly composed, badly drawn, badly painted … The folds of the drapery are expressed by ribbons of paint in the direction of the folds themselves, with hard edges to them. Only painters can quite understand the depth of infamy confessed in this last description. It means that the drapery is no longer painted, but intended.' ³⁹ And yet, he added, 'Something in the expression of the eyes of the girl on the sofa has preserved for us a hint of the young man's admiration.' ⁴⁰

Conservation History

It was cleaned and varnished without the owner's approval, before being exhibited at Goupil's in 1892; Huth refused outright to pay any costs, 'you should defray any expense you may have deemed necessary for the rendering of your Exhibition more attractive, I declined to pay it, and I must adhere to my decision.' ⁴¹ The painting, according to Whistler, had been returned 'through my care, in a state of perfection - beautiful to look upon.' ⁴²

Frame

Symphony in White, No. 3, frame

1865: The original frame has not been located.

1870s: Flat Whistler frame with painted Maltese Cross Pattern, still visible under the gilding, dating from ca 1871/1873. The original decoration painted on the frame dates from the early 1870s, perhaps from the 1873 exhibition. [FD] 33 7/8 x 44" (86.0 x 111.7 cm), [MW] 7 ¼" (18.4 cm). ⁴³

1892: Professor McLaren Young thought this decoration might have been gilded over at the time of the Goupil exhibition. The frame was abraded during transport back from the Goupil show and may have been repaired at that time. ⁴⁴

History

Provenance

• 1865: sold by Whistler to Louis Huth (1821-1905), London;
• 1899: sold by Huth through Agnew, London dealers, to Edmund Davis (1861-1939), London;
• 1939: after his death, sold at auction, Christie's, London, 7 July 1939 (lot 100), and bought by the Barber Institute of Fine Arts.

Louis Huth had bought 'the Sofa' by 25 November 1865, before it was completed. ⁴⁵ It is not at all clear when it was completed. In 1873, Whistler told Louis Huth that the 'two figures' painting would cost 'at least 8 hundred or a thousand', and was one that he planned 'to take up directly the Academy work is over - and you can see as they progress whether you like to keep them for yourself.' ⁴⁶ Huth agreed on 1 February 1873 that he would 'postpone my final decision in regard to them until they are further advanced.' ⁴⁷ However, it is not entirely clear which picture he meant.

On 21 December 1915 Ricketts (quoted by Lewis) noted that Davis had been offered £30,000 for this painting, which he had originally bought for about £2000 'reluctantly on our suggestion'; in 1939 it fetched 3300 gns at auction. ⁴⁸

Exhibitions

• 1867: 99th Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1867 (cat. no. 233) as 'Symphony in White, No. 3'.
• 1873: Sixth Exhibition of the Society of French Artists [Summer Exhibition], Deschamps Gallery, London, 1873 (cat. no. 112).
• 1884: Exposition internationale de peinture et de sculpture, Société des XX, Brussels, 1884 (cat. no. 3).
• 1892: Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 2) as 'Symphony in White, No. III'.
• 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, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 7) as 'Symphony in White, No. 3'.

1867: Paris.

Whistler wrote to the Belgian artist Alfred Émile-Léopold Stevens (1823-1906), probably in 1867:

'Mon frère raporte avec lui le petit tableau - je serai bien aise de le savoir dans le salon du Club - Si vous avez le temps j'aimerai bien avoir de vous un petit mot pour me dire si il vous plait … comme tableau, ensemble, etc., c'est assez pour être vu par les artistes.' ⁴⁹ Translation: 'My brother is bringing the little painting with him. I would be very glad to know that it was in the salon of the Club. If you have time I would very much like to have a little word from you to tell me if you like it ... as a painting, composition, etc., it's enough for it to be seen by artists.'

Two of Whistler's 'Symphonies in White', Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl y038 and Symphony in White, No. 3 y061, were in Paris in 1867. It is not entirely clear to which Fantin-Latour was referring when he wrote to Whistler on 12 February 1867, but it was probably Symphony in White, No. 3 y061:

'Ton tableau ... m a plu enormément. c'est bien etrange, je ne m'en doutais pas de son aspect. quand le matin je suis entrer [sic] chez ton frère j'ai fait un Ah!. qu'il est bien et original la tête de la femme en blanc est la meilleure tête que je t'ai jamais vu faire. ma critique est que c'est un peu nuage, c'est comme un rêve l'aspect général du tableau, mais ce n'est pas une critique serieuse, c'est evident que c'est ta personnalité devant la mienne qui est choquée, l'opinion des autres. Manet ne l'a pas vu mais il m'a dit que Stevens le trouvait très bien, et que Tissot est comme un fou de ce tableau il en sautait de joie - attends toi donc de la part de ces 2 messieurs a des imitations. il parait que tu n'as pas été exposé parce que il fallait être invité par le Comité ... Stevens m a dit quil [sic] fallait pour être du club avoir un autre parrain et que quand tu serais a Paris il faudrait aller voir un membre du club. Puis il a dit ensuite a ton frère qu'il fallait des mois de séjour a Paris en somme il me semble que ... Stevens ne t'a pas été très utile.' ⁵⁰

Translation: 'Your picture ... gave me enormous pleasure, it is really strange, I had no doubt about its appearance. in the morning when I went to your brother's I said Ah!. it is so good and original the head of the woman in white is the best head I have ever seen you do, my criticism is that it is a little cloud-like, the general appearance of the picture is like a dream, but this is not a serious criticism, it is evident that it is your personality meeting mine which struck me, other people's opinions. Manet has not seen it but he told me that Stevens thought it very good, and Tissot is mad over the picture he was jumping for joy about it - so expect imitations from these 2 gentlemen. it appears that you were not exhibited because you had to be invited by the Committee ... Stevens told me that to be a member of the club you need another sponsor and that when you come to Paris you would have to meet a member of the club. Then he told your brother afterwards that you will need to stay in Paris for several months altogether ... Stevens has not been very useful.'

So, the painting was not exhibited at the 'Club', but it was admired by Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902) and Stevens.

1867: Royal Academy.

Instead, Symphony in White, No. 3 y061 went to the Royal Academy, where, said Whistler, 'My pictures are pretty well hung ... only on a crowded day cannot be seen because of the crinolines.' ⁵¹ It seems from the reviews that Whistler's pictures and titles aroused both praise and irritation. The Chronicle, in a long press cutting kept by Whistler, wrote:

'Mr. Whistler’s pictures ... like their predecessors of some years past, look odd and even irritating to most people, chiefly for two reasons : – First, that most people are devoid of this sense of intrinsic art, and proportionately dull to the signs of it; and, second, that the pictures are painted in a key very different from that of the works which surround them, and with a neglect or rejection of many of those executive qualities which are commonly – and in some instances rightly – understood to go to professional competence and presentableness. Admitting that Mr. Whistler does not grapple with all the difficulties which an artist is fairly expected to quell, and that his pictures form a dangerous precedent, we must still acknowledge, and that not on compulsion but with alacrity and delight, the supreme artistic charm of his work; its exquisite refinement and felicity even amid some degree of offhandedness, and its implication of many a subtlety of art, caught with an almost evanescent nicety, yet in a truly final and triumphant manner. Mr. Whistler's figure picture of the present year is named "Symphony in White, No. 3," evidently indicating that both this and two previous works, which will dwell in many memories, were painted partly as studies of harmony in various tinges and affinities of white. From that point of view the picture is simply delicious, and hardly to be outdone.' ⁵²

Frederick George Stephens (1828-1907) described it as 'an exquisite chromatic study' and also commented on the title, 'which, by borrowing a musical phrase, doubtless casts reflected light upon former studies or "symphonies" of the same kind.' ⁵³

Philip Gilbert Hamerton (1834-1894) wrote in the Saturday Review:

'Mr Whistler is anything but a robust and balanced genius. No mental force was ever more curiously irregular and capricious in its application than his, but the gifts that he has are truly artistic gifts ... in the "Symphony in White, No. III" there are many dainty varieties of tint, but it is not precisely a symphony in white.' ⁵⁴

Hamerton's comments rankled with Whistler, and in time inspired an amusing response:

'How pleasing that such profound prattle should inevitably find its place in print! Not precisely a symphony in white … for there is a yellowish dress … brown hair, etc. … another with reddish hair … and of course there is the flesh colour of the complexions.

Bon Dieu! did this wise person expect white hair and chalked faces? And does he then in his astounding consequence, believe that a symphony in F contains no other note, but shall be a continued repetition of F, F, F? … Fool!' ⁵⁵

Whistler probably did not make this response in 1867. He wrote it alongside the original 1867 press cutting in an album, possibly in 1878, but more likely around 1890. ⁵⁶ As Petri remarks, Whistler finally published Hamerton's comments and his witty riposte in 1892, in the interest of 'rearranging history'. ⁵⁷

1873: Society of French Artists.

A review of the Society of French Artists exhibition from the London Evening Standard of 21 April 1873 kept by Whistler described the 'Symphony in White' as a 'pale picture of two graceful, indolent girls in white, in a white chamber, where white blossoms come clustering in at the window.' ⁵⁸ In a very sympathetic review, 'W. W.' in The Examiner considered it 'exceedingly beautiful, the faces of the two young ladies, and especially one of them, being distinct with keen pathos, powerfully delineated.' ⁵⁹

1884: Les XX, Brussels.

Whistler asked Charles William Deschamps (1848-1908) to help organise his exhibits for Brussels:

'I want you to undertake and carry out thoroughly the sending, for me, of some pictures to Brussels - You doubtless know that there is to be an Exposition there almost immediately after the manner of the one in the Rue de Sèze - To this I have been invited as "representing English Painting!"

... will you call on Mr Huth and persuade him for me to lend the little Symphony in White No. 3 ... and explain my anxiety that this work should be seen abroad where it would be so well understood - also say that the Exhibition only lasts a month and he would have back his picture on the first days of March.' ⁶⁰

For the exhibition it was insured for 500 guineas at the owner's (Louis Huth’s) request, and Whistler suggested his exhibits would be improved by being 'well rubbed up and polished' and even re-varnished. ⁶¹

1892: Goupil Gallery.

Symphony in White, No. 3, photograph, Goupil Album, 1892

Louis Huth at first refused to lend the painting. Whistler wrote that he only had 'temporary charge of it', and elaborated on the relationship between artist and patron: 'effectively the picture is only entrusted to him, and is in reality the property of the whole world - or rather of the few other artists who, in future generations, shall require it of his stewardship.' ⁶² Eventually Huth agreed to lend, and to have 'his picture overhauled' and it was cleaned and varnished for the show, and photographed for the Goupil Album. ⁶³ In the catalogue designed by Whistler, he selected several earlier reviews, including the notorious one by Philip Gilbert Hamerton (1834-1894), and ending with a quotation from John Ruskin (1819-1900), as follows:

' "It is not precisely a symphony in white – one lady has a yellowish dress and brown hair and a bit of blue ribbon, the other has a red fan, and there are flowers and green leaves. There is a girl in white on a white sofa, but even this girl has reddish hair; and of course there is the flesh colour of the complexions." P. G. Hamerton, "Saturday Review."

"Mr. Whistler appears as eccentrically as ever. ... Art is not served by freaks of resentment. ... We hold him deeply to blame that these figures are badly drawn.

"... 'Taste,' which is mind working in Art, would, even if it could at all conceive them, utterly reject the vulgarities of Mr. Whistler with regard to form, and never be content with what suffices him in composition." – Athenæum.

"Painting, or art generally, as such, with all its technicalities, difficulties, and particular ends, is nothing but a noble and expressive language, invaluable as the vehicle of thought, but by itself nothing." John Ruskin, Esq., Art Professor, "Modern Painters." ' ⁶⁴

Whistler immediately wanted to borrow the painting for a forthcoming exhibition in Paris, but Huth would not lend the picture again, writing, 'During the few remaining years left to me I mean to be in undisturbed possession of my pictures.' ⁶⁵ Despite this, Whistler put it – in vain – on his wish list for the World's Columbian Exposition, Department of Fine Arts, Chicago, 1893. ⁶⁶

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 61), Plates 51, 374-75, 379-80, as 'Symphony in White, No. 3'.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. nos. 290, 322-23, 326-27, 348, 910).

Authored by Whistler

• Whistler, James McNeill, [Letter], The Art Journal, vol. 50, April 1887, p. 101.
• Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, London, 1890, pp. 44-45.
• Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 2).
• Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, 2nd edition, London and New York, 1892, pp. 298-99.
• Goupil Gallery and James McNeill Whistler, Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces [portfolio of photographs published after the Goupil Gallery Exhibition, March-April 1892], London, 1892, repr. pl. 3.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 99th Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1867 (cat. no. 233) as 'Symphony in White, No. 3'.
• Sixth Exhibition of the Society of French Artists [Summer Exhibition], Deschamps Gallery, London, 1873 (cat. no. 112) as 'Symphony in White'.
• Exposition internationale de peinture et de sculpture, Société des XX, Brussels, 1884 (cat. no. 3).
• Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 2) as 'Symphony in White, No. III'.
• Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 7) as 'Symphony in White, No. 3'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., [Royal Academy], Evening Star, London, 4 May 1867.
• Anon., 'The Royal Academy Exhibition', Western Morning News, 9 May 1867, pp. 3-4.
• Anon., 'Fine Arts', Illustrated Times, London, 11 May 1867, p. 11.
• Anon., 'Town Talk, By the Saunterer in Society', Fun, London, 18 May 1867, p. 100.
• Anon., 'Royal Academy', Bell's Weekly Messenger, London, 18 May 1867, p. 6.
• Anon., [Royal Academy], Birmingham Chronicle, Birmingham, 18 May 1867, p. 10.
• Anon., [Royal Academy], Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette, Hampshire, 18 May 1867, p. 4.
• Anon., 'The Royal Academy Exhibition. Second Notice', The Chronicle, London, 25 May 1867.
• Anon., 'Exhibition of the Royal Academy', Illustrated London News, London, 25 May 1867, p. 10.
• Anon., 'Arts and Popular Culture', London Daily News, London, 11 June 1867, p. 2.
• Anon., 'Society of French Artists', London Evening Standard, London, 21 April 1873, p. 2.
• Anon., ['W. W.'], 'Society of French Artists', The Examiner, London, 26 April 1873, pp. 15-16, at p. 16.
• Anon., 'Fine Arts. Society of French Artists', Illustrated London News, London, 26 April 1873, p. 20.

Journals 1855-1905

• Stephens, F. G., 'Fine Arts. Royal Academy', The Athenaeum, 18 May 1867.
• [Hamerton, Philip Gilbert], 'Pictures of the Year', Saturday Review, vol. 23, 1 June 1867, pp. 690-91, at p. 691.
• Brownell, William C., 'Whistler in Painting and Etching', Scribner's Monthly, vol. 18, no. 4, August 1879, pp. 481-95, wood-engraving by Davis repr. p. 493.
• Dowdeswell, Walter, 'Whistler', The Art Journal, new series, vol. 50, no. 586, April 1887, pp. 97-103, at p. 101, repr. p. 98.
• Sickert, Walter Richard, 'Whistler To-day', The Fortnightly Review, vol. 57, new series, vol. 51, April 1892, pp. 543-47, at p. 543.
• Гюисман, И . [Huysmans, I.], 'Уистлер' [Uistler], Мир искусства [Mir Iskusstva, 'World of Art'], vol. 2, nos. 16-17, 1899, pp. 61-68, repr. p. 66.
• Bénédite, Léonce, 'Artistes Contemporains: Whistler', Gazette des beaux-arts, vol. 33, 1905, pp. 403-10, 496-511; vol. 34, 1905, pp. 142-58, 231-46, in vol. 34, at pp. 154-55, 157-87, drawing repr. p. 158.
• Crucy, François, 'J. M.-N. Whistler', L' Art et les Artistes, Paris, 1905, pp. 40-45, at p. 44.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Anderson, Ronald, and Ann Koval, James McNeill Whistler: Beyond the Myth, London, 1994, pp. 3-6.
• Cary, Elizabeth Luther, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of Artist’s Works, New York, 1907 (cat. no. 371).
• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler: Uneasy Pieces, New York, 2004, pp. 68, 70, 114, 320.
• Duret, Théodore, Histoire de J. McN. Whistler et de son oeuvre, Paris, 1904, pp. 31, 205.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Susan Galassi, Aileen Ribeiro, and Patricia de Montfort, Whistler, Women and Fashion, New Haven and London, 2003, pp. 79, 86, 90-91, 97, 220, repr. fig. 88.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., 'Joanna Hiffernan and James Whistler: an Artistic Partnership' in Margaret F. MacDonald (ed.), The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and Washington, 2020, pp. 15-31.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Joanna Dunn, and Joyce H. Townsend, 'Painting Joanna Hiffernan', in Margaret F. MacDonald (ed.), The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and Washington, 2020, pp. 33-45.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 1, pp. 143-47, 178, 184-85; vol. 2, p. 27.
• Petri, Grischka, Arrangement in Business: The Art Markets and the Career of James McNeill Whistler, Hildesheim, 2011, pp. 87, 128-29, 131-32, 163, 172, 214, 368, 636.
• Petri, Grischka, 'The “Symphonies in White”: Display, Sale, and Reproduction', in Margaret F. MacDonald (ed.), The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and Washington, 2020, pp. 167-176.
• Ribeiro, Aileen, 'Fashioning White in the Work of Whistler and his Contemporaries' in Margaret F. MacDonald (ed.), The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and Washington, 2020, pp. 157-166.
• Spencer, Robin (ed.), Whistler: A Retrospective, New York, 1989, pp. 79-82, 93.
• Spencer, Robin, Whistler, New York, 1990, pp. 68-70.
• Sickert, Bernhard, Whistler, London and New York, 1908 (cat. no. 28).
• Sutherland, Daniel E., Whistler: A Life for Art's Sake, New Haven and London, 2014, pp. 92-93, 102, 108, 129.

Books, General

• Asleson, Robyne, Albert Joseph Moore, London, 2000, p. 238.
• Baldry, Alfred Lys, Albert Moore: His Life and Works, London, 1894, paintings by Moore repr. f.pp. 28, 36.
• Cox, Kenyon, Old Masters and New Essays in Art Criticism, New York, 1905, p. 236.
• Lewis, Cecil (ed.), Self Portrait taken from the Letters and Journals of Charles Ricketts, R.A., London, 1939, pp. 21, 248.
• Ono, Ayako, Japonisme in Britain: Whistler, Menpes, Henry, Hornel and nineteenth-century Japan, London, 2003, p. 68.
• Prettejohn, Elizabeth, Beauty and Art: 1750-2000, Oxford, 2005, p. 142.
• Prettejohn, Elizabeth, Art for Art’s Sake: Aestheticism in Victorian Painting, New Haven and London, 2007, pp. 168-69.
• Reff, Theodore, The Notebooks of Edgar Degas, 2 vols, Oxford, 1976, I, p. 1077, drawing by Degas repr.
• Robins, Anna Gruetzner (ed.), Walter Sickert: the Complete Writings on Art, Oxford, 2000, p. 185.
• Rossetti, William Michael (ed.), Rossetti Papers, 1862-1870, London, 1903, p. 228.
• Staley, Allen, The New Painting of the 1860s: Between the Pre-Raphaelites and the Aesthetic Movement, New Haven, 2011, p. 343.

Catalogues 1906-Present

COLLECTION:

• Barber Institute of Fine Arts (ed.), Catalogue of the Paintings … in the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, Cambridge, 1952, p. 118.

EXHIBITION:

• Young, A. McLaren, James McNeill Whistler, Arts Council Gallery, London, and Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1960 (cat. no. 17).
• Reff, Theodore, and Allen Staley (eds), From Realism to Symbolism: Whistler and His World, Columbia University, New York, 1971 (cat. nos. 17, 18, 63, 108) drawing repr. p. 30.
• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, pp. 234, 301 (not exhibited).
• Dorment, Richard, and Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1994-1995 (cat. no. 16).
• Calloway, Stephen, and Lynn Federle Orr (eds), The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2011, repr. pl. 47 (no catalogue number).
• Ayako Ono, ホイッスラー展. James McNeill Whistler Retrospective, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyōto, 2014, and Yokohama Museum of Art, 2014–2015 (cat. no. 97).

Journals 1906-Present

• Sickert, Walter Richard, 'The New Life of Whistler', The Fortnightly Review, vol. 84, December 1908.
• Reff, Theodore, ‘New Light on Degas’s Copies’, The Burlington Magazine, vol. 106, June 1964, pp. 250-59; vol. 107, June 1965, pp. 320, 323, at pp. 250-59, drawing by Degas repr. p. 253.
• Spencer, Robin, 'Whistler’s “The White Girl”: Painting, Poetry and Meaning', The Burlington Magazine, vol. 140, 1998, pp. 300-11 (on Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl y038).
• Arscott, Caroline,'Whistler and Whiteness', in Charlotte Ribeyrol (ed.), The Colours of the Past in Victorian England, in J. B. Bullen (ed.), Cultural Interactions. Studies in the Relationship between the Arts, vol. 38, Oxford, 2019, pp. 47-69.

Websites

• Barber Institute of Fine Arts website.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 33) 'Symphony in white No: 3 / The little white girls.'

Other

• Parkerson, Sarah Lawrence, Variations in Gold: The Stylistic Development of the Picture Frames used by James McNeill Whistlers, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2007.