James Tissot

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James Tissot
Self-Portrait (1865), oil on canvas
Born
Jacques Joseph Tissot

(1836-10-15)15 October 1836
Died8 August 1902(1902-08-08) (aged 65)
Occupations
  • Painter
  • illustrator
  • artist

Jacques Joseph Tissot (French:

Victorian England, but he would also explore many medieval, biblical, and Japoniste subjects throughout his life. His career included work as a caricaturist for Vanity Fair
under the pseudonym of Coïdé.

Tissot served in the

Early life

Jacques Tissot was born in the city of Nantes in France and spent his early childhood there. His father, Marcel Théodore Tissot, was a successful drapery merchant. His mother, Marie Durand, assisted her husband in the family business and designed hats. A devout Catholic, Tissot's mother instilled pious devotion in the future artist from a very young age. Tissot's youth spent in Nantes likely contributed to his frequent depiction of shipping vessels and boats in his later works. The involvement of his parents in the fashion industry is believed to have been an influence on his painting style, as he depicted women's clothing in fine detail. By the time Tissot was 17, he knew he wanted to pursue painting as a career. His father opposed this, preferring his son to follow a business profession, but the young Tissot gained his mother's support for his chosen vocation. Around this time, he began using the given name of James as an Anglicisation, becoming commonly known as James Tissot by 1854; he may have adopted it because of his increasing interest in everything English.[1][2]

Artistic debut

Faust and Marguerite in the Garden, 1861

In 1856 or 1857, Tissot travelled to

Édouard Manet.[1]

In 1859, Tissot exhibited in the

Paris Salon for the first time. He showed five paintings of scenes from the Middle Ages, many depicting scenes from Goethe's Faust.[4] These works show the influence in his work of the Belgian painter Henri Leys, whom Tissot had met in Antwerp earlier that same year. Other influences include the works of the German painters Peter von Cornelius and Moritz Retzsch. After Tissot had first exhibited at the Salon and before he had been awarded a medal, the French government paid 5,000 francs for his depiction of The Meeting of Faust and Marguerite in 1860. The painting went on to be exhibited at the Salon the following year, together with a portrait and several other paintings.[1]

Émile Péreire supplied Tissot's painting Walk in the Snow for the 1862 international exhibition in London; the next year three paintings by Tissot were displayed at the gallery of art dealer Ernest Gambart in London.[1]

Mature life and career

Communard cap and a Japanese-style Obi
cloth.

Sometime after 1862, Tissot began to shift focus from his early medievalist styles to instead match English tastes for narrative paintings of Victorian life and society.

James Abbott Whistler, and Edgar Degas.[1][7] Degas shared many of his cultural interests as Tissot's mentee, notably producing a portrait of Tissot in which he is sitting below a Japanese screen hanging on the wall.[8][9]

Tissot led a tumultuous life outside of painting, fighting in the

Communard or because of better opportunities, he left Paris for London in 1871.[11] Seymour Haden helped him to learn etching techniques during this period.[12]

Having already worked as a caricaturist for

Wilhelm I of Germany,[18]
depicting the latter two in particular as bloodthirsty conquerors.

Post-war career

Tissot would further explore political themes of turmoil in Europe during the onset and aftermath of the war: The 1870 painting La Partie Carrée evoked nostalgia for the period of the

Austrian Habsburg and North German war flags over Europe - The title is thought to be an ironic jab at the British ensign barely visible at the top of the canvas.[20] Tissot produced Ball on Shipboard in 1874 with a similar subject, depicting a diverse range of contemporary national flags sewn together in a large awning.[21]

Wilhelm I
(Les mangeoit pour soi refraischir devant souper), 1871

Once established in London, Tissot quickly developed his reputation as a painter of elegantly dressed women shown in scenes of fashionable life. By 1872 Tissot had bought a house in St John's Wood,[22] an area of London very popular with artists at the time. Writer and critic Edmond de Goncourt sarcastically described "a studio with a waiting room where, at all times, there is iced champagne at the disposal of visitors" by 1874.[2] Tissot gained membership of The Arts Club in 1873,[1] and his paintings appealed greatly to wealthy British industrialists throughout the second half of the 19th century. During 1872 he earned 94,515 francs, an income normally only enjoyed by those in the echelons of the upper classes.[1]

Tissot is considered a core figure of Japonisme alongside contemporaries such as Alfred Stevens and Claude Monet,[23] a widespread artistic movement formed in response to the sudden influx of Japanese art, textiles, and curiosities into the European market as a result of the forced opening of trade relations with Japan in 1853 and subsequent Meiji Restoration in 1868.[24][25] Printed Japanese art emphasized clarity, spaciousness, and boldness appealing to the Ukiyo urban culture and Tissot came to regularly include popular Japanese artifacts and costumes in his pictures after being introduced to the subject by Whistler,[26] additionally expressing stylistic influences in his use of composition and perspective.[27][23][24]

Holyday, 1876. Thought to originally have been part of a diptych depicting Tissot's garden in St. John's, alongside A Convalescent, c. 1876

In 1874, Degas asked him to join them in the first exhibition organized by the artists who became known as the Impressionists, a then-nascent artistic movement that would inspire much of Tissot's own style. Tissot ultimately refused but would remain a close acquaintance of the group.[5][28] Berthe Morisot visited him in London in 1874, and he travelled to Venice with Édouard Manet at about the same time. He regularly saw Whistler, who influenced Tissot's Thames river scenes.[1]

A strong recurring theme throughout Tissot's middle career was the exploration of social and sexual tension between men and women in the context of strictly gender-segregated Victorian society.[22][29][30] Many of his depictions of contemporary life include hints or narratives of desire, vulgarity, and the complexity of sexual relationships,[20] while his idiosyncratic focus on women's fashion and society made an idealized female beauty a widespread commonality of his portraiture. Gallery of HMS 'Calcutta' (1876) was particularly noted for its use of body language and subtext in depicting a scandalous moment of flirtation between a married officer and a young woman, the perspective heavily accentuating the latter's figure and sexuality,[29][31] and received criticism as "hard, vulgar, and banal" upon release.[32] Some scholars have even suggested Tissot's selection of the Calcutta as the painting's setting to be a deliberate play on the phrase "Quel cul tu as" ("What an arse you have" in French).[31][33] Portsmouth Dockyard, an 1877 variation on a painting titled On The Thames (How Happy I Could Be with Either?), received similar accusations of immorality for its ambiguous depiction of what its predecessor's alternative title reveals to be a military man openly deciding between two potential suitresses.[34]

Family life and bereavement

Seaside, 1878

In 1875 or 1876, Tissot met Kathleen Newton, an Irish divorcee who became the painter's companion and frequent sitter. She quickly began an intimate relationship with Tissot, moving in as a housemate in 1877. The couple's marital status was uncertain, as Tissot's Catholic faith did not recognize her divorce and meant they could not opt for annulment without delegitimizing her previous children, however they chose to live openly as husband and wife and their servants addressed Newton as "Madame Tissot". Newton is said to have called Tissot "Jimmie", while his pet names for her included "Kitty", "Petit Femme", and "Mavourneen" (an Irish term after "Kathleen Mavourneen", a popular love song from the time).[7] Newton gave birth to a son named Cecil George Newton in 1876, who is believed to be Tissot's, and the couple would frequently entertain her previous children at Tissot's property even while they continued to live with her relatives. Later, Tissot often referred to these years with Newton as the happiest of his life, a time when he was able to live out his dream of being a family man.[7][11]

The Garden Bench, 1882

Newton's work as a sitter for Tissot encompassed dozens of paintings and studies, most notably including a well-known 1876 etching entitled Portrait of Mrs N., more commonly titled La Frileuse,[1] which was later the basis for the 1877 painting Mavourneen, also known as A Portrait or as Winter.[35] Tissot's paintings and prints of 1877–1881 included images of travel along the Thames or south coast and to Paris, but many focused on Newton relaxing and reading in the garden, or surrounded by visiting children. Around 1880–1881 she contracted tuberculosis and Tissot portrayed her sitting well-wrapped outdoors, as fresh air was thought to have a curing effect. Newton succumbed to her illness in Tissot's arms on 9 November 1882, "with the ardent faith of a neophyte and the silent resignation of a saint."[36]

After Kathleen Newton's death, Tissot returned to Paris. The last major exhibition of this era in Tissot's life took place in 1885, with a 15-painting series titled Quinze Tableau sur la Femme à Paris (Fifteen Paintings on the Woman of Paris), displayed at the Galerie Sedelmeyer.[37] Unlike the genre scenes of fashionable women he painted in London, these paintings sought to represent different archetypes of women across many different classes and occupations, shown in professional and social scenes.[1] The Shop Girl in particular seemed to return to Tissot's exploration of sexuality and gender, with one writer identifying depictions of desire and baseness in the composition, while the series's wider inclusion of working class women outside of the household as subjects could have been seen as morally dubious at the time.[30] La Femme à Paris also solidified the influence of Japanese prints in Tissot's work, as he used unexpected angles and framing from that tradition to create a monumental context in the size of the canvases.[23]

  • La Femme à Paris
  • The Shop Girl, c. 1878–1885
    The Shop Girl, c. 1878–1885
  • The Woman of Fashion, c. 1883–1885
    The Woman of Fashion, c. 1883–1885
  • The Ladies of the Cars, c. 1883–1885
    The Ladies of the Cars, c. 1883–1885
  • The Circus Lover, 1885
    The Circus Lover, 1885
  • A Woman of Ambition, 1885
    A Woman of Ambition, 1885

Late career

Detail, self-portrait on silk, 1898

After completing the Woman of Paris in 1885 Tissot experienced a religious vision at the

Church of St. Sulpice, leading him to revive his Catholic faith and spend the remainder of his life making paintings about biblical events.[38] Moving away from the Impressionists' and Post-Impressionists' intent to create art that reflected a changing, modern world,[39] Tissot returned to traditional, representational styles and narratives in his watercolors. As part of this artistic effort Tissot traveled to the Middle East in 1886, 1889, and 1896 to make studies of its landscapes and cultures, which would come to distinguish his series from contemporary Biblical art through its "considerable archaeological exactitude"[38] in striving for accuracy rather than religious emotion.[12] His series of 365 gouache illustrations showing the life of Christ were shown to critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences in Paris (1894–1895), London (1896) and New York (1898–1899), before being bought by the Brooklyn Museum in 1900.[38] They were published in a French edition in 1896–1897 and in an English one in 1897–1898, bringing Tissot vast wealth and fame. During July 1894, Tissot was awarded the Legion of Honour, France's most prestigious medal.[1]

Tissot spent the last years of his life working on paintings of subjects from the Old Testament.[40] Although he never completed the series, he exhibited 80 of these paintings in Paris in 1901 and engravings after them were published in 1904.[11]

  • The Life of Christ
  • Saint Joseph Seeks a Lodging in Bethlehem
    Saint Joseph Seeks a Lodging in Bethlehem
  • Jesus Wept
  • Our Lord Jesus Christ
    Our Lord Jesus Christ
  • The Kiss of Judas
    The Kiss of Judas
  • Crucifixion, seen from the Cross
    Crucifixion, seen from the Cross
  • Subjects from the Old Testament
  • The Creation, Jewish Museum (New York), c. 1896–1902
    The Creation,
    Jewish Museum (New York)
    , c. 1896–1902
  • Adam and Eve Driven From Paradise, c. 1896–1902
    Adam and Eve Driven From Paradise, c. 1896–1902
  • Cain leadeth Abel to death, c. 1900
  • Moses, watercolor c. 1896–1902
    Moses, watercolor c. 1896–1902
  • The Seven Trumpets of Jericho, c. 1896–1902
    The Seven Trumpets of Jericho, c. 1896–1902

Death and legacy

Portrait of Mrs N, also known as La Frileuse, 1876
Moses and Joshua in the Tabernacle, c. 1896–1902

Tissot died suddenly in Doubs, France, on 8 August 1902, while living in the Château de Buillon, a former abbey which he had inherited from his father in 1888. His grave is in the chapel sited within the grounds of the chateau.[1][11]

Widespread use of his illustrations in literature and slides continued after his death with The Life of Christ and The Old Testament becoming the "definitive Bible images". In 1906, filmmaker

Victorian art writer Christopher Wood described Tissot as "the greatest painter of social life in Victorian times".[45]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68966. Retrieved 5 July 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ a b Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists, Artist Profile Summary, via artuk.org, Retrieved 26 May 2023
  3. ^ a b Anabelle Kienle Poňka, The Frivolity of the Directoire Period: James Tissot's "Partie Carrée", National Gallery of Canada magazine, 9 April 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2023
  4. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: James Tissot". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b c William H. Robinson, Paul J. and Edith Ingalls Vignos Jr. Senior, James Tissot, Painter of Modern Life. Cleveland Museum of Art, via Medium, 24 February 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  6. ^ "While our industrial and artistic creations may perish, and our customs and our costumes may fall into oblivion, a painting by Mr. Tissot will be enough for archaeologists of the future to reconstruct our era." Élie Roy, "Salon de 1869," L’Artiste 40 (July 1869), 82.
  7. ^ a b c Ross, Marita, "The Truth About Tissot," Everybody’s, 15 June 1946, p. 6.
  8. ^ "Portrait of James-Jacques-Joseph Tissot".
  9. ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Edgar Degas, James-Jacques-Joseph Tissot (1836–1902) ca. 1867–68". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  10. ^ Tillier, Bertrand, "Tissot and the Traumas of the ‘Terrible Year’" in Buron, Melissa E. (ed.), James Tissot. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d e Misfeldt, Willard E., "Tissot, James", Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 5 July 2014
  12. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tissot, James Joseph Jacques" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 1015–1016. Retrieved 26 May 2023
  13. ^ "James Tissot: Tea (1998.170) – Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 27 May 2023
  14. ^ . Retrieved 27 May 2023
  15. ^ "Coïdé". ChrisBeetles.com. Retrieved 26 May 2023
  16. ^ Yale, Napoleon III, YCBA online collection, Retrieved 26 May 2023
  17. ^ National Portrait Gallery, Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, Reference Collection Search, Retrieved 26 May 2023
  18. ^ National Portrait Gallery, Wilhelm I, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia, Reference Collection Search, Retrieved 26 May 2023
  19. ^ "Acquisitions of the month: December 2018". Apollo Magazine. 11 January 2019.
  20. ^ a b "The Holiday (Still on Top)". Auckland Art Gallery. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  21. ^ "'The Ball on Shipboard', James Tissot, c.1874". Tate. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  22. ^
    ISSN 1527-2052
    .
  23. ^
    Jules Claretie in his book L'Art français en 1872 and by Philippe Burty
    (1830–1890) in Japonisme III: La Renaissance littéraire et artistique
  24. ^ a b Ono 2003, p. 1
  25. JSTOR 42597774
    .
  26. .
  27. ^ "Japanism | Ukiyo-e, Woodblock, Prints | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  28. ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Edgar Degas, James-Jacques-Joseph Tissot (1836–1902) ca. 1867–68". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  29. ^ a b "'The Gallery of HMS Calcutta (Portsmouth)', James Tissot, c.1876". Tate. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  30. ^ a b Regina Haggo. The Hamilton Spectator. 26 September 2006. pg. G.11
  31. ^ a b "La Galerie du HMS Calcutta par James Tissot : focus sur un chef-d'œuvre". Connaissance des Arts (in French). 24 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  32. ^ Hughes (2001), 17
  33. ^ Marshall, Nancy Rose. James Tissot: Victorian Life, Modern Love. Malcolm Warner, pp.85-87
  34. ^ "'Portsmouth Dockyard', James Tissot, c.1877". Tate. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  35. ^ Matyjaszkiewicz, Krystyna, "73 / ‘Winter’ or ‘Mavourneen’" in "Catalogue Checklist", Buron 2019, p. 294.
  36. ^ Bastard 1906, p. 264: "cette belle créature expira dans ses bras . . . Avant s’éteindre, gagnée par les croyances de son fidèle ami, elle embrassa la religion catholique et rendit le dernier soupir avec la foi ardente d’une néophyte la résignation muette d’une sainte."
  37. ^ "Review: James Tissot. New Haven, Québec and Buffalo," by Paul Stirton. The Burlington Magazine 2000 pg. 131.
  38. ^ a b c Brooklyn Museum. "James Tissot". Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  39. ^ Samu, Margaret. "Impressionism: Art and Modernity". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  40. ^ Jewish Museum. "James Tissot". Archived from the original on 18 September 2012.
  41. ^ Richard Abel, The Cine Goes to Town: French Cinema, 1896-1914, University of California Press, 1998, pp. 20 and 165.
  42. ^ Alison McMahan, Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of the Cinema, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2014, p. 28.
  43. ^ Oscar Wilde, The Grosvenor Gallery, Dublin University Magazine, July 1877. Transcribed from the 1908 edition of Miscellanies by David Price, 16 November 2004, Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 15 May 2023
  44. ISSN 0025-4878
    .
  45. ^ Victorian Painting by Christopher Wood. Bulfinch Press. 2000

General sources

  • Misfeldt, Willard E. "Tissot, James [Jacques-Joseph]" in Oxford Art Online.
  • Biography of Tissot with recent information on Kathleen Newton at Paul Ripley's Victorian Art in Britain
  • Ono, Ayako (2003). Japonisme in Britain: Whistler, Menpes, Henry, Hornel and nineteenth-century Japan. New York: Routledge Curzon.
  • Wentworth, Michael. "James Tissot". Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984. Print
  • Wood, Christopher. "Tissot: Life and Work of Jacques Joseph Tissot 1836–1902". London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986. Print.

External links