Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl was probably started in 1861, signed in 1862, repaired and probably retouched in 1872. 1

1861-1862: From 18 November 1861 to 10 March 1862 Whistler hired an easel from P. Hardy-Alan (fl. 1860-1903), 1 rue Childebert, près St-Germain-des-Prés. 2 In November 1861 he leased a studio and in December he bought a 2.15 × 1.09 metre stretcher and had it fitted to a canvas in his studio in the Boulvard Pigalle. 3 This was the right size for a full-length oil, such as Symphony in White, No. I: The White Girl.

1862: Both Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) and the Pennells, wrote (many years later) that Whistler painted 'sa Fille Blanche' ('the big White Girl') 'in a studio ... in the Boulevard des Batignolles ... hung, it is said, all in white'. 4 The Boulevard Pigalle is in the 9th and the Boulevard des Batignolles in the 17th arrondissement, north to nor'-nor'-west of the centre of Paris. However, the documentation proves that the studio was in the Boulevard Pigalle.

On 8 January 1862 Miss Chapman wrote in her diary: 'Jimmy Whistler came to call on us at the Hotel du bon Lafontaine. He was then working in Paris and painting the big "White girl"!' 5

Whistler's mother, Anna Matilda Whistler (1804-1881), writing in February 1862, reported that Whistler, having returned from Brittany, 'had begun a new painting in Paris, & was hard at work' but had to return to London on the death of a friend. 6 A close friend, Ralph Thomas, Sr (1803-1862), had died on 12 January 1862 and Whistler returned briefly to London. He told George du Maurier (1834-1896) that he had been working on the painting all winter from eight every the morning, and that it was nearly finished. According to du Maurier, Whistler described the figure as 'standing against a window which filters the light through a transparent white muslin curtain – but the figure receives a strong light from the right and therefore the picture barring the red hair is one gorgeous mass of brilliant white.' 7

By 22 February Whistler was back in Paris, and was visited at 18 Boulevard Pigalle by the American art dealer George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909). Lucas saw the artist at intervals until 1 April 1862 when he noted in his diary, 'To see Whistler who packed his picture of the "femme Blanche".' 8

Whistler's mother congratulated him: 'how pleased I am to hear that you finished the two in time to present at the Royal Academy. Your mother is satisfied even if they are not hung this year.' 9 The Thames in Ice [YMSM 036] and The Coast of Brittany [YMSM 037] were accepted by the Royal Academy of Arts, but the full-length portrait was rejected. 10 Fantin-Latour was stunned to hear of its rejection, and wrote to Edwin Edwards (1823-1879): 'Je ne sais pourquoi l'on a refusé le tableau de Whistler, il y avait de grandes qualités. Je l'ai vu travaillant et l'ai suivi pendant tous les progrès. Whistler m'a montré un coté que je ne lui connaissais pas, la persistance, le volonté.' 11 Instead, in June it was exhibited at a recently opened gallery at 14 Berners Street, which was run by Matthew Somerville Morgan (1839-1890).

According to the Pennells, '[Whistler] fell ill before the end of the winter. Miss Chapman says he was poisoned by the white lead he used in the picture. Her brother, a doctor, recommended a journey to the Pyrenees.' 12 In the Basses Pyrénées (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Whistler stayed in Guéthary, whence in November 1862 he wrote to Fantin-Latour that he ought to return to London to 'finir … la Fille blanche pour le salon à Paris.' 13 In December, Whistler and the painting were in London, but Whistler still planned to return to Paris and 'carry the White Girl to the Salon.' 14

1863: On Monday 16 March Whistler told G. A. Lucas that he was 'touching the painting up a little' for the Salon, and likewise, on 20 March, told James Anderson Rose (1819-1890), 'I am finishing The White Girl for the Salon in Paris and it ought to go off on Monday - so that I should be painting at it until late in the evening.' 15 It did not go off on Monday, and a few days later, on Thursday, 26 March, he showed the painting in The Artists' and Amateur's Conversazione at Willis's Rooms in St James Square. He then proposed to take the canvas to Paris on the following Sunday, and had asked if he could unpack and frame it in Fantin-Latour's studio: 'J'apporte "La Fille Blanche" - ! puis-je dérouler ma toile et l'encadrer dans ton atelier, que nous puissions la voir ensemble avant de l'envoyer au Salon?' 16 On 1 May Fantin-Latour reported that it had been rejected at the Salon; instead, it was shown in the Salon des Refusés. 17

1864: P. Hardy-Alan (fl. 1860-1903) retained the picture in Paris until at least February 1864 as surety for certain of Whistler's debts, although these, according to Whistler, were 'une bagatelle' that he would settle easily when he came to Paris. 18

1866: The painting was finally bought by Whistler's half-brother, George William Whistler (1822-1869), who paid him £250 in two instalments but did not actually receive it. 19

1867: Instead, 'The White Girl' was exhibited in the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867. G. A. Lucas had trouble organising the return of Whistler's pictures to London but finally arranged it on 3 December. 20

1868: G. W. Whistler wrote from St Petersburg to Whistler: 'I hope you will find time before next Spring to finish my picture - for if we remain I shall wish it here, & if not I shall want it in the States next year.' 21

1869: G. W. Whistler died in Brighton, England, on 24 December 1869.

1872: At some the picture was damaged. From March to April Whistler worked on 'my White Girl', but failed to complete repairs in time to send it to an International Exhibition in London. 22 In the autumn of 1872, G. W. Whistler's family returned to Baltimore.

1872/1875: the frame was painted with a wave pattern and signed with Whistler's butterfly monogram.

1875: By September Whistler had finally attended to the frame and sent the picture to America. 23 G. W. Whistler's widow died on 25 September 1875, and rights of ownership passed to their son, Thomas Delano Whistler (1857-1921).