Model Mania / Birmingham Museum of Art
Artist: Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) Title: La Belle Irlandaise (Portrait of Jo) Date: 1866 Media: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 22 x 26 in. Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Joanna Hiffernan modeled La Belle Irlandaise. Courbet, Whistler, one of Courbet’s close friends, and Monet painted together in the year of 1865 seaside of Trouville. This is where Joanna posed for Corbet, while at the time being in a relationship with Whistler. Hiffernan and Whistler’s relationship was going into five years by the time this painting was completed. It is possible that she met Courbet during her stay in Paris with Whistler during the years of 1861-1865. Courbet calls Joanna Hiffernan the “beautiful Irishwoman”, as portrayed in the painting.
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