Articles

Whister's Woman In White

Ian McKeever , Marianne North No.1

RA Exhibitions

> 2 years ago

Whistler’s whites: creating presence with a pared down palette

The colour white can be as challenging for the painter as the blank white sheet of paper is for the writer. Ian McKeever RA reflects on James McNeill Whistler’s ability to create form using one of the most elusive colours.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Wapping (detail)

RA Exhibitions

> 2 years ago

Meet everyone in ‘Whistler’s Woman in White’

You’d be forgiven for thinking our exhibition ‘Whistler’s Woman in White’ was all about Whistler, but there’s a whole host of artists, models and writers in the show. Get to know them here…
George Dance RA, A woman handing a letter to another woman (detail)

RA Exhibitions

> 2 years ago

Wilkie Collins, Whistler and the Victorian craze for women in white

We’ve filled our galleries with Whistler, Klimt, and Rossetti’s paintings of women wearing white gowns, but what started this trend in the 1860s? Professor Lara Feigel explores the literary origins of this aesthetic moment.

James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, 1862.

RA Exhibitions

> 2 years ago

Who was Whistler’s Woman in White?

Take a tour of the exhibition ‘Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan’ with its curators, and delve into the life of the artist’s principal model.
Artist quiz

RA Exhibitions

> 2 years ago

Quiz: which artist are you?

Are you the sort who goes to a calligraphy party and comes home with a raging hangover, or are you more likely to nip down the road for a seance with friends?

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Wapping (detail)

RA Exhibitions

> 2 years ago

“To be a good model, you have to give yourself up”: Celia Paul on Joanna Hiffernan and sitting for Lucian Freud

Ahead of our exhibition exploring James McNeill Whistler and Joanna Hiffernan’s relationship, Celia Paul, artist and sitter for Lucian Freud, meditates on what it takes to be painted.