Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl

In the pictureIn a tall, narrow picture, a young woman in a white dress stands almost life-size. Her reddish-brown hair falls long over her shoulders, and her greenish eyes look slightly away from straight ahead. The dress has puffed sleeves and a white ribbon tied at the waist. In one lowered hand she holds a single white lily. Behind her, a white curtain fills the picture in vertical folds. At her feet lies an animal skin, whether wolf or bear is hard to say, and at lower right its head, teeth bared, looks toward us. Small flowers are scattered on the skin, and below it a carpet with a blue pattern is visible. At upper right are the signature and 1862.

BackgroundIt was painted by Whistler, who was born in America and worked in London and Paris. The model was Joanna Hiffernan, from Ireland, Whistler's principal model and companion in the early 1860s. At the time, portraits of this size usually depicted well-known people, so when it was first shown in London in 1862 it puzzled viewers. The following year, after being rejected by the Paris Salon, it was hung in the Salon des Refusés and caused a stir. Whistler painted Hiffernan in white twice more, grouping the pictures under the title Symphony in White, and argued that, as in music, line and color themselves are what matter in a painting.

Puzzle tipWith white covering most of the picture, this is a hard one. First fit the animal skin and blue carpet at the bottom and the animal's head at lower right to make the floor. Next, fit the red hair and face and the hand holding the lily. Sort the remaining white pieces by texture. The curtain has a yellowish tinge, with vertical folds and a faint floral pattern, while the dress is whiter, with gray shadows spreading downward. The signature at upper right anchors the top corner of the curtain. 100 pieces is recommended.