Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl by James McNeill Whistler, Tate Britain London: Famous Paintings and their Hidden Histories – Spring 2026

Artist and art teacher Áine Andrews returns with another series of lectures on Famous Paintings and their Hidden Histories. For the sixth installment of this six part lecture series, Áine will focus on Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl, by James McNeill Whistler, recounting its history, as well as that of the artist and his story.

Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl, by James McNeill Whistler, Tate Britain London

Whistler’s painting of Joanna Hiffernan has a meditative, dreamy appearance. This young Irish woman is depicted in a beautifully painted white dress, with delicate pink flowers, leaning against the mantelpiece in the house she shared with the American born artist, in Chelsea London. The work hints at Whistler’s appreciation of Japanese art and culture with the young woman captured in a moment of deep contemplation, her face reflected in the mirror and silhouetted against a seascape, reinforcing the dream-like atmosphere.

Whistler’s biographers wrote of Joanna:

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

The Tate Gallery is staging a major exhibition, in May to September 2026 in London. The retrospective – the first major European exhibition of Whistler’s work in 30 years – will bring together this and other world-famous paintings alongside rarely, or never seen, works.