WHISTLER’S WOMAN IN WHITE: JOANNA HIFFERNAN

26 February to 22 May

Men have painted women in white since the days of Classical antiquity – think goddesses draped in ivory robes – but it is perhaps 19th-century artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler who has made the most memorable contribution to the tradition.

Not only did the painter return to this subject throughout his career, but his model and mistress

Joanna Hiffernan was also a constant presence in his work. The relationship between the pair will be explored in this new exhibition, which brings Whistler’s three celebrated Symphony in White paintings together, alongside other well-known portraits by his contemporaries, including Klimt, Courbet and Rossetti. Royal Academy of Arts, London. www.royalacademy.org.uk