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Self Portrait,
1865
James Joseph Jacques Tissot was
born at Nantes. He studied at the Ecole des
Beaux Arts in Paris under Ingres, Flandrin and
Lamothe, and exhibited in the Paris Salon for
the first time at the age of twenty-three. In
1861 he showed The Meeting of Faust and Marguerite,
which was purchased by the state for the Luxembourg
Gallery. His first characteristic period made
him a painter of the charms of women. Demi-mondaine
would be more accurate as a description of the
series of studies which he called La Femme
a Paris.
He fought in the Franco-German War, and, falling
under suspicion as a Communist, left Paris for
London. Here he studied etching with Sir Seymour
Haden, drew caricatures for Vanity Fair,
and painted portraits as well as genre subjects.
Sometime in the 1870s Tissot met a divorcee,
Mrs. Kathleen Newton, who became his companion
and the model for many of his paintings. Mrs.
Newton moved into Tissot's household in 1876
and lived with him until her suicide in the
late stages of consumption in 1882 at the age
of 28.
It was many years before he turned to the chief
labor of his career—the production of a
series of 700 water-color drawings to illustrate
the life of Christ and the Old Testament. He
disappeared from Paris, whither he had returned
after the death of Kathleen Newton, and went
to Palestine. In 1896 the series of 350 drawings
of incidents in the life of Christ was exhibited
in Paris, and the following year found them
on show in London. They were then published
by the firm of Lemercier in Paris, who had paid
him 1,100,000 francs for them. (Over 500 related
drawings, watercolors and oils are now in the
collection of the Brooklyn Museum.)
After this he turned to the scenes of the Old
Testament, upon which he was still engaged at
the abbey of Buillon, in the department of Doubs,
France, when he died.
The merits of Tissot's Bible illustrations lay
rather in the care with which he studied the
details of scenery than in any quality of religious
emotion. He seemed to aim, above all, at accuracy,
and, in his figures, at a vivid realism, which
was far removed from the conventional treatment
of sacred types.
Known for his sumptuous and elegant portrayals of well-turned-out
Victorian society, Tissot has not had a scholarly museum exhibition
in over 30 years--until now. James Tissot is the catalog accompanying
a recent traveling exhibition of this artist's work, curated
by Marshall and Warner (of the Yale Center for British Art).
Their book portrays Tissot as "the painter of modern life"--in
the Baudelairian sense. Although formally conservative in painting
technique, they argue, Tissot was one of the best observers
of life in the 19th century, focusing on the complex manners
and morals of Victorian society. This argument is presented
in the introductory essay as well as in the thorough catalog
entries of the artist's paintings and prints. The other recent
general monograph on the subject of Tissot, Russell Ash's James
Tissot (Abrams, 1992), has beautiful plates but is not as strong
a book, with very short entries on the paintings and a cursory
bibliography. Recommended for art libraries and academic libraries
supporting art programs. On a more sophisticated level, Seductive
Surfaces is an anthology of essays written by scholars in the
fields of art history, literature, and costume history. Applying
Marxist and feminist methodology, these interdisciplinary essays
examine a range of topics, including the influence of popular
print sources such as the fashion plate in Tissot's paintings
and his portrayal of women as "commodified status symbols"
depicted through an elegant veneer. This detailed study is a
nice complement to the exhibition catalog but is only recommended
for libraries that support upper-level programs in art history
and 19th-century studies.
—Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll. Lib., MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
James Tissotby Russell Ash – Hardcover, (September
1992) Harry N Abrams
The author of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema surveys the life and
work of James Tissot (1836-1902) and, for the first time in
a large format, presents a superb selection of Tissot's finest
paintings. Includes a list of his paintings in public collections.
60 illustrations, including 40 in full color.
James Tissot: Victorian Life/Modern Love by Nancy
Marshall, Malcolm Warner, Yale Center for British ArtCor –
Paperback, 216 pages (September 1999) Yale Univ Press
James Tissot (1836-1902), the wry and urbane observer of manners
and fashions, painted scenes of Paris and London "society"
that simmered with undercurrents of sexual drama. This beautifully
illustrated book presents one hundred of Tissot`s paintings,
prints, and watercolors representing each stage of his career.
The authors consider Tissot`s themes, interests, and the influences
on his work.
James Tissot (Pre-Raphaelite Painters Series) by
Russell Ash – Paperback: 96 pages Publisher: Pavilion Books;
New Ed edition (April 20, 1995)
Reader review: This is an attractive and interesting
book, containing many of James Tissot's best paintings with
detailed accounts of the year each was painted, the current
location of the work, how it was recieved when first exhibited
and the story behind it. It also has a very good introduction
about his life and work. Highly recommended to any Tissot, costume
or Victorian enthusiast.
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Seductive
Surfaces: The Art of Tissot
James Tissot 
James Tissot: Victorian Life/Modern Love
James Tissot
