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

A Long Look Podcast

Welcome back! I hope you all had a great summer. We’ll be spending the rest of 2024 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, starting off with a stunning portrait of a red-headed Irish beauty that shocked London society. We’ll find out who she is and how she was much more than a pretty face.

Then we’ll learn about the very mercurial artist she had to put up with, James McNeill Whistler and the chaos he caused in his own life and others!

SHOW NOTES “A Long Look” opening and closing themes are by Ron Gelinas: “Ascension” https://youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo and “Easy” https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs

Episode music “Chopin Waltz in A Minor, B. 150.” Performed by Aya Higuchi

String Quartet no. 2 in B minor - II. Minuetto moderato.” Composed by Joseph Miroslav Weber, Performed by Steves Bedroom Band. Courtesy of musopen.org

Artwork information https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.12198.html

https://www.nga.gov/features/joanna-hiffernan-the-white-girl.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.12198.html#relatedpages

https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2022/woman-in-white.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/whistler-symphony-in-white-no-1-the-white-girl.html

https://www.nga.gov/blog/how-whistler-painted-white-in-full-color.html

James McNeill Whistler info https://www.theartstory.org/artist/whistler-james-abbott-mcneill

Joanna Hiffernan Bio https://www.dib.ie/biography/hiffernan-joanna-jo-a9605

The Peacock Room https://asia.si.edu/explore-art-culture/interactives/peacock-room/making-the-peacock-room/

Transcript available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/symphony-in-white/