Joanna Hiffernan. Joanna Hiffernan or Joanna Heffernan was an Irish artists' model and muse who was romantically linked with American painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler and French painter Gustave Courbet.
In addition to being an artists' model, Hiffernan herself also drew and painted, although it is not believed she ever exhibited her work. Hiffernan was a Roman Catholic, born in Limerick in Ireland in 1843 to Anne nee Hickey and Patrick Hiffernan.
She and her family may have left Ireland for London during the Great Famine of 1845 to 1848, taking up residence at 69 Newman Street. The spelling errors in her surviving letters reveal she received a modest education.
Her father, Patrick Hiffernan, was described by Whistler's friends, Joseph Pennell and his wife Elizabeth, as being like Captain Costigan, the drunken Irishman in Thackeray's novel Pendennis. The Pennells also described him as a teacher of polite chirography who used to speak of Whistler asme son-in-law.
Her mother died in 1862, aged 44. Joanna Hiffernan had a sister called Bridget Agnes Hiffernan, later Singleton. The artist Walter Greaves, who began tuition with Whistler in 1863, and who knew Hiffernan well, said that she had a son called Harry but no trace of him can be found in official records. She dressed strikingly at Whistler's expense, with George du Maurier scornfully commenting that Jo came with to me. got up like a duches
In addition to being an artists' model, Hiffernan herself also drew and painted, although it is not believed she ever exhibited her work. Hiffernan was a Roman Catholic, born in Limerick in Ireland in 1843 to Anne nee Hickey and Patrick Hiffernan.
She and her family may have left Ireland for London during the Great Famine of 1845 to 1848, taking up residence at 69 Newman Street. The spelling errors in her surviving letters reveal she received a modest education.
Her father, Patrick Hiffernan, was described by Whistler's friends, Joseph Pennell and his wife Elizabeth, as being like Captain Costigan, the drunken Irishman in Thackeray's novel Pendennis. The Pennells also described him as a teacher of polite chirography who used to speak of Whistler asme son-in-law.
Her mother died in 1862, aged 44. Joanna Hiffernan had a sister called Bridget Agnes Hiffernan, later Singleton. The artist Walter Greaves, who began tuition with Whistler in 1863, and who knew Hiffernan well, said that she had a son called Harry but no trace of him can be found in official records. She dressed strikingly at Whistler's expense, with George du Maurier scornfully commenting that Jo came with to me. got up like a duches
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