Joanna Hiffernan - Artist's Model

Artist's Model

Whistler first met Hiffernan in 1860 while she was at a studio in Rathbone Place, and she went on to have a 6-year relationship with him, during which period she modeled for some of his most famous paintings. Physically striking, Hiffernan's personality was even more impressive. Whistler's biographers and friends, the Pennells, wrote of her,

"She was not only beautiful. She was intelligent, she was sympathetic. She gave Whistler the constant companionship he could not do without."

Whistler's family did not approve of Hiffernan, as unmarried artists' models, and especially those who posed nude, were considered at that time to be little better than prostitutes. However, Hiffernan seems only to have modelled for friends, so perhaps the objections to her made by Whistler's family were based more on social class than on Hifferman's personal character. When Whistler's mother visited from America in 1864, alternative accommodation had to be found for Hiffernan, who also seems to have been the cause of Whistler's quarrel with Alphonse Legros in 1863.

She was in France with Whistler during the summer of 1861, and while in Paris during the winter of 1861–62 she sat for Symphony in White, No. I: The White Girl at a studio in Boulevard des Batignolles and in 1864–65 she posed for Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl. It is possible that this is when she met Whistler's friend and fellow artist, Gustave Courbet, for whom she later modeled. There is some thought -recently confirmed by experts who found another part of the picture showing the woman's head- that she was the model for Courbet's L'Origine du monde, which depicts a nude woman's vulva.

Hiffernan attended séances with Whistler at Dante Gabriel Rossetti's house in Chelsea in 1863, and spent the summer and autumn of 1865 in Trouville with Whistler. In 1866, Whistler gave Hiffernan power of attorney over his affairs while he was in Valparaiso for seven months, making provision for household expenses and giving her the authority to act as an agent in the sale of his works.

During Whistler's absence, Hiffernan travelled to Paris and posed for Courbet in The Sleepers, or Le Sommeil which depicts two naked women in bed asleep. It is likely that she had an affair with Courbet at this time, After the end of his relationship with Hiffernan, Whistler left a will in her favour.

In addition to being an artists' model, Hiffernan herself also drew and painted.