Cherry Smyth

Fiction. Art History. HOLD STILL is set in 1860s London and Paris, and is a fictional account of a short period in the life of Joanna Hiffernan, the muse and model of both James Whistler and Gustave Courbet. Cherry Smyth has created an enthralling picture of what must have been a remarkable woman. How did a young girl, just seventeen when she met Jim Whistler, admittedly with beautiful red hair, and a vivid personality, inspire talented painters to create wonderful paintings: Whistler's Symphony in White, No.1: The White Girl and Courbet's La Belle Irlandaise which made their names? HOLD STILL tells the story from Jo's point of view. Her father instills in her a sense of self and Jo grows up to be a free spirit, a suffragette avant la lettre. Read HOLD STILL for an interpretation of Courbet's notorious The Origin of the World's genesis, with a highly plausible explanation of the absent head and face of the model.

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