The lady played key roles in Whistler's life, and it was to her that Whistler left his estate and gave her power of attorney. And the National Gallery's show has got the papers on display to prove it! This is the first exhibition "to delve deeply" in their relationship and offer explanations, wrote Kaywin Feldman, director, the National Gallery of Art, in a press statement.
Alas, Hiffernan died 17 years before Whistler, and his estate was left to his sister-in-law.
At The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler, National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie, June 29, 2022At the opening of The Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan and James McNeill Whistler, National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie, June 29, 2022
Behind the enchanting show which reveals some of the mystery of the glamorous woman in white, are the credentials of Dr. Margaret MacDonald, a world renowned Whistler authority who came over from Scotland for the National Gallery's opening and delivered a public lecture.
Dr. MacDonald is professor emerita of art history at the University of Glascow, and I was lucky enough to interview her. She's about as charming as I would imagine Ms. Hiffernan to be.
Dr. Margaret MacDonald, professor emerita of art history, Glasgow University, with Whistler's Wapping, 1860-1864, National Gallery of Art, John Hay Whitney Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie, June 29, 2022
While we sat on a bench at the National Gallery with the three ladies in white behind us, the professor told me a bit about her Whistler background.
She became interested in the American expatriate when she spotted a job posting for a university research assistant, and she laughed.
"Many years ago I needed a job and was in Glasgow doing teacher training, actually, and a job came up" duties which included working on Whistler's 7,000 letters.
"And I thought that sounds interesting. So I read a book on Whistler and got the job!" and she laughed again.
The job was a one-year contract which lasted 12 years. (Rather like some federal contractor jobs in Washington, D.C. which sometimes extend into the next century.)
"One thing led to another over the years, another good project; some good ideas," and the work is ongoing with "a helluva big collection; it's a wonderful collection" with always things to do.
"We're still finding out more, as you can imagine," Dr. MacDonald said.
In Whistler's paintings, Hiffernan appears as a quiet, acquiescent partner, with shimmering red hair touched by a golden halo.
No one knows for sure how they met, according to Dr. MacDonald, but "we guess." It was 1860.
"She was living with her sister near the British Museum in London" where there were many shops selling artists' materials.
"Some models lived near there so it depends whether he was looking for a model. She could have been in a shop when he was there, buying paints. We don't exactly know."
But Ms. Hiffernan was a model who was not confined to Whistler. She also modeled for Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) some of whose works of her are in the exhibition.
In the 19th century, models were often associated with prostitutes, but she was not a prostitute, Dr. MacDonald is sure.
"She may have looked like one. Because she was a model, she was not considered as respectable."
"Hiffernan died young [of bronchitis]. Everything changed when she died."
Whistler later married the artist Beatrice Godwin whose family may become a future exhibition by some of Dr. MacDonald's colleagues.
Not too long ago, Hiffernan's great-great-grand-niece contacted Dr. MacDonald who showed me a picture of the niece who bore a remarkable resemblance to her great-great-grand-aunt Joanna.
Dr. MacDonald said it was about 2014 whe she "probably began talking to Charlie" [Brock, associate curator, department of American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art] about the current show, and "he says about six years ago we seriously began [work] and began to make a list."
The famous Symphony in White, No 1: The White Girl, 1861-1863, 1872, the centerpiece of the exhibition, portrays Hiffernan standing on a bear skin on a Japanese rug.
What is the meaning of the bear?
"At the time," Dr. MacDonald said, "nobody mentioned the bear."
Why did Whistler paint Hiffernan in white?
It "showed off her red hair. Very appealing and white is purity."
Dr. MacDonald pointed out that in Hiffernan is holding an orange blossom, which symbolized marriage, but Ms. Hiffernan never married.
Why is she wearing a wedding ring?
"She looks respectable. Or, maybe she wore it for a while. There might have been objections from both families." It is not known if they wanted to get married.
If Joanna was going to be at dinner, Whistler's brother-in-law would refuse to come.
No one knows where Hiffernan is buried although many have searched, Dr. MacDonald said.
A recognized world authority on Whistler, Dr. MacDonald is the author of several Whistler books and articles, including the stunning book for this exhibition with 232 pages of the couple's story, history, controversies, and plates, many in color ($50 in the museum shops).
At Encyclopedia. com, Dr. MacDonald's web listing has drawn almost four million views.
I think the Hiffernan-Whistler (Courbet?) affair would make a marvelous movie, along the lines of The Girl With A Pearl Earring (Vermeer).
Dr. MacDonald: Do you write screenplays, too?
*For a Wikipedia mistake about Hiffernan's death date, Dr. MacDonald wrote me: "The book/catalogue spells this out. Her death certificate is beyond doubt and gives bronchitis and 1886, and it’s registered by her sister Agnes. And it would have been Agnes Hiffernan (by then Mrs Singleton) who accompanied Whistler’s son to his funeral in 1903 and was mistakenly identified as her sister Joanna, leading to the 1903 misinformation."
Ann Dumas of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and Dr. Brock were co-curators.
The National Gallery will host free Whistler-Hiffernan talks and a concert inspired by Woman in White on the following:
Saturday, Sept. 17 at 12:00 p.m. with Eric Denker
and
Friday, Sept. 23 at 1:00 p.m. with David Gariff
Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, 3 - 4:20 p.m. The U.S. Army Band Chamber Players will play compositions by Chopin, Debussy, Takemitsu, and Beach. (Required registration for the concert begins Sept. 23, 2022 at 12 p.m.)
Thank you to the Terra Foundation for American Art for helping make the exhibition and the book possible.
When: Now through Oct. 10, 2022, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: East Building Mezzanine, National Gallery of Art, Washington
How much: Admission is always free at the National Gallery of Art.
Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza
For more information: (202) 737-4215
Accessibility information: (202) 842-6905
patricialesli@gmail.com
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