Background

James Tissot was born on October 15, 1836 in Nantes, France. He was a son of Marcel Théodore Tissot, a successful drapery merchant, and Marie Durand, who assisted her husband in the family business and designed hats.

Education

In 1856, James entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Also, he studied art under Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin and Louis Lamothe. Around this time, Tissot became friends with James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet.

Career

In 1859, James Tissot exhibited his works in the Paris Salon for the first time. In 1860, the French government paid 5,000 francs for his depiction of "The Meeting of Faust and Marguerite". The following year, in 1861, this work and other paintings were exhibited at the Salon. Also, in the early 1960's, the painter's works were displayed at the gallery of Ernest Gambart in London.

In 1863, James abandoned medieval style and shifted his focus to the depiction of modern life through portraits. At that time, Tissot received high critical acclaim for his works and quickly became a successful painter. Also, it was at that time, that he explored "japonisme", including Japanese objects and costumes in his pictures.

Tissot fought in the Franco-Prussian War as part of the improvised defence of Paris, joining two companies of the Garde Nationale and later as part of the Paris Commune. Either because of the radical political associations, related to the latter (which he was believed to have joined mostly to protect his own belongings rather than for shared ideology), or because of better opportunities, he left Paris for London in 1871. There, in London, he learned etching techniques from Francis Seymour Haden and served as a caricaturist for the Vanity Fair magazine.

Between 1875-1876, James met Kathleen Newton, who would become his companion and a subject for Tissot's works. After Kathleen's death in 1882, the painter came back to Paris. There, he held a major exhibition of his works at the Galerie Sedelmeyer in 1885. Also, from 1885 till the end of his life, James depicted Biblical events. Many of his artist friends were skeptical about his conversion, as it conveniently coincided with the French Catholic revival, a reaction against the secular attitude of the French Third Republic.

In 1886, 1889, and 1896, James visited the Middle East in order to make studies of the landscape and people. Tissot spent the last year of his life, working on the series of paintings, depicting subjects from the Old Testament, but the work was never finished.

Achievements

• James Tissot was mostly known for his depictions of fashionably dressed women and scenes from the Bible. In 1894, he obtained the National Order of the Legion of Honour.

Works

More photos

• caricature

  • Caricature of Charles Darwin

    (Caricature from Vanity Fair magazine)

  • Caricature of Lionel Dawson Damer M.P.

  • Caricature of Admiral Sir Hastings Reginald Yelverton

  • Caricature of Percy William Doyle C.B.

  • Caricature of Henry William Eaton M.P.

  • Caricature of Mr Lionel Lawson

  • Caricature of General Sir Frederick Paul Haines

  • Caricature of William Henry Gregory

  • Caricature of Edward, Prince of Wales

  • Caricature of Mr Washington Hibbert

  • Caricature of Mr George Leeman M.P.

  • Caricature of Thomas Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton

  • Caricature of George Cavendish Bentinck

  • Caricature of Matthew Arnold

  • Caricature of Henry Cole

  • Caricature of William Bathurst, 5th Earl Bathurst

  • Caricature of James Delahunty M.P.

  • Caricature of Frederic Leighton

  • Caricature of John George Dodson M.P.

• illustration

  • Barrabbas

    (Illustration from "The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ")

  • Victorian book illustration

• painting

  • Mavourneen (Portrait of Kathleen Newton)

  • The Ladies of the Cars

  • Portrait of Miss L.

  • The Shop Girl

  • Hush! (The Concert)

  • Kathleen Newton in an Armchair

  • The Bunch of Lilacs

  • Chrysanthemums

  • At the Rifle Range

  • Transept of the Mosque of El Aksa

  • The Last Evening

  • The Return of the Prodigal Son

  • Spring

  • A Part of the Ancient Arch Called Ecce Homo

  • The Ruins (Inner Voices)

  • Berthe

  • The Round Stone Seen from the Exterior

  • Young Ladies Looking at Japanese Objects

  • Waiting

  • Going to Business

  • Portrait of M. B.

  • Portrait of M.N. (Portrait of Mrs. Newton)

  • The Stairs

  • The Summer

  • The Dreamer (Summer Evening)

  • Trafalgar Tavern

  • The Tedious Story

  • The Circle of the Rue Royale

  • During the Service

  • A Luncheon

  • The Inn of the Three Ravens

  • The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

  • Portsmouth Dockyard

  • Tombs In the Valley of Hinnom

  • The Apparition

  • A Dandy

  • Holyday

  • A Widow

  • The Hammock

  • London Visitors

  • Young Ladies Looking at Japanese Objects

  • In the Sunshine

  • Etude

  • An Interesting Story

  • The Confidence

  • Waiting for the Ferry

  • The Ball

  • Spring

  • Older Sister

  • The Prodigal Son in Modern Life In Foreign Climes

  • Summer

  • The Tombs in the Valley of Hinnom

  • In the Conservatory

  • Staircase of the Court, Haram

  • A Convalescent

  • Quiet

  • Portrait of the Vicomtesse de Montmorand

  • A Corner of the Village of Siloam

  • Partie Carree

  • Foreign Visitors at the Louvre

  • Healing of the Lepers at Capernaum

  • The Political Lady

  • In the greenhouse

  • Remembrance Ball on Board

  • Kathleen Newton at the Piano

  • Portrait of Miss Lloyd

  • The Widower

  • On the Thames, a Heron

  • Site of the Antonia Tower

  • Supposed Site of the Temple

  • The Secret Rendez Vous

  • On the Thames

  • The Farewell

  • Journal

  • Algeron Moses Marsden

  • The Garden Bench

  • Crucifixion, seen from the Cross

  • Autumn on the Thames

  • The Fan

  • An Old Cistern

  • Bad News

  • The Woman of Fashion (La Mondaine)

  • Too Early

  • The Prodigal Son In Modern Life, the Fatted Calf

  • Louise

  • The Artist's Ladies

  • Reading the News

  • A Little Nimrod

  • The Prophet Zechariah

  • Faust and Marguerite in the Garden

  • The Captain and the Mate

  • The portico of the National Gallery London

  • In The Louvre

  • Quarrelling

  • In an English Garden

  • Women of Paris: The Circus Lover

  • The Departure Platform, Victoria Station

  • Portrait of Mlle. L.L. (Young Lady in a Red Jacket)

  • October

  • In full sun

  • Woman in an Interior

  • Goodbye, on the Mersey

  • Hide and Seek

  • Caricature of Anthony John Mundella

  • The Thames

  • A Girl in an Armchair

  • Beating the Retreat in the Tuileries Gardens

  • The Two Sisters Portrait

  • The Prodigal Son in Modern Life: The Departure

  • The Captain's Daughter

  • In Church

  • Rear of the Mosque of Omar

  • Colonel Frederick Gustavus Barnaby

  • At Marguerite Rempart

  • Gentleman In A Railway Carriage

  • Reading A Story

  • Young Lady In A Boat

  • A Fete Day at Brighton (Naval flags of various European nations seen In background)

  • Uncle Fred

  • Portrait of the Marquis and Marchioness of Miramon and their children

  • Boarding the Yacht

  • Without A Dowry, aka Sunday In the Luxembourg Gardens

  • The Traveller

  • Ball on Shipboard

  • Mrs. Newton with a Parasol

  • The Japanese Vase

  • Spring Morning

  • Valley of Jehoshaphat

  • Room Overlooking the Harbour

  • The Letter

  • Orphan

  • A Corner of the Haram

  • Prodigal Son, The Return

  • By the Thames at Richmond

  • A Passing Storm

  • Via Dolorosa

  • Croquet

  • The way

  • Emigrants

  • Behold He Standeth behind Our Wall

  • Marguerite in Church

  • Fountain of the Virgin at Ain Karim

  • Portrait of an Actress in Eighteenth Century Dress

  • Girl with a fan

  • The Warrior's Daughter, or The Convalescent

  • The Return from the Boating Trip

  • Children's Party

  • At The Louvre

  • Waiting for the Ferry

  • Portrait of M. N.

• sketch

  • Metal Ornament Taken from the Mosque of Es Sakra

  • Phoenician Capital

  • Judaic Ornament

  • An Armenian

  • Type of Jew

  • Jew and Armenian

  • Metal Ornament Taken from the Mosque of Es Sakra

  • Type of Jew

  • Vases of Judea

  • Armenians

  • Two frontispiece (Sitting on the globe)

  • Judaic Ornament

  • Type of Jew

  • Capital from the Mosque of El Aksa

  • Judaic Ornament (Rosette)

  • Premier frontispiece

  • Metal Ornament Taken from the Mosque of Es Sakra

  • The Round Stone Seen from the Interior

  • Type of Jew

  • Type of Jew

  • Type of Jew

• сaricature

  • Caricature of John Pender

  • Caricature of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy

  • Caricature of Alexander Baillie Cochrane M.P.

Membership

• The Arts Club , United Kingdom

  1873

Connections

In 1875 or 1876, James met Kathleen Newton, who would later move into his house. In 1876, she gave birth to a boy, Cecil George Newton, who is believed to be Tissot's son. In 1886, Kathleen committed suicide because of complications of tuberculosis.

Father:

Marcel Théodore Tissot

Mother:

Marie Durand

child:

Cecil George Newton

life partner:

Kathleen Newton

mentor:

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

mentor:

Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin

mentor:

Louis Lamothe

Friend:

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Friend:

Edgar Degas

Friend:

Édouard Manet

References

• James Tissot: Victorian Life/Modern Love This beautifully illustrated book presents one hundred of Tissot`s paintings, prints and watercolors, representing each stage of his career.
  1999
• James Tissot This art book contains reproductions of portraits, religious and genre scenes with title and date.
  2011