Jo, La Belle Irlandaise
Artist: Gustave Courbet (French, 1819–1877)
Original Dimensions: 22" x 26"
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
About Artwork: (1865–66) "The "beautiful Irishwoman" depicted in this painting is Joanna Hiffernan (born 1842/43), mistress and model of the artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), and perhaps subsequently Courbet’s lover. Although dated 1866, the picture was likely undertaken in 1865, when the two men painted together at the French seaside resort of Trouville; Courbet wrote of "the beauty of a superb redhead whose portrait I have begun." He would paint three repetitions with minor variations." - (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Panel content
Panel content