Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl

Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl, by James McNeill Whistler, is a renowned portrait rendered in oil on canvas. The painting depicts a woman in a three-quarter portrait pose, dressed in a white dress and holding a fan, standing beside a fireplace with a mirror overhead. The model, Joanna Heffernan, was Whistler’s mistress, and her finger bears a ring, suggesting symbolism separate from marriage. Originally titled after her nickname, Whistler later called it a Symphony in White, reflecting his art for art's sake philosophy. The work exemplifies a departure from strict Realism, emphasizing aesthetic abstraction over precise representation.