Lot n° 80
Estimation :
20000 - 30000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 240 000EUR
James TISSOT (1836-1902) - Lot 80
James TISSOT (1836-1902)
Woman at the window, circa 1874-1875.
Oil on canvas.
Signed lower right on the caning of the armchair (possibly reported).
59.5 x 46 cm.
Related work:
Drypoint in reverse, two copies are preserved, one at the BNF (ref DC310bj,76c76039).
We would like to thank Madame Krystyna Matyjaszkiewicz who kindly confirmed the authenticity of this painting. A copy of the specialist's authentication letter will be given to the buyer.
Commentary:
In 1872, Tissot, based in London, sold a number of paintings at good prices.
The following year, he acquired a house in the St John's Wood district of the English capital. He soon had an extension built to serve as his studio. The stage is set at the entrance to this studio, on the garden side. Numerous objects are characteristic of the painter's studio and serve as backdrops for many of his paintings: a rocking chair, carpets and cushions
cushions, a Japanese screen that the painter collected. The young model is dressed in an outfit that can be seen in other works by Tissot, circa 1874-1876 (white summer bonnet with blue ribbon, gray, striped bodice with matching overskirt and cape).
Tissot frequently used the technique of depicting a figure looking directly at the viewer to engage the viewer. Here, the young woman knocks on the French window, pressing her nose against the glass in an attempt to make out a presence inside the studio.
Woman at the window was etched by Tissot. Only two trial proofs are known to exist (Bibliothèque nationale, Paris and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto). The etching, inverted in relation to the painting, is contemporary with another etching of the same format, Spring Morning (100 copies). Both mark a period when Tissot devoted himself seriously to etching, after his paintings were rejected at the Royal Academy's April 1875 exhibitions.
Our painting possesses all the painter's characteristic qualities: feminine elegance and youthfulness, preciousness of setting and model's attire, a snapshot of a moment of grace and beauty
beauty from everyday life.
Biographical details:
After an early career devoted to biblical and literary subjects, Tissot's career took off with the success of his portrait of Mademoiselle L. L, shown at the Paris Salon in 1864. He received a number of commissions, including the group portrait, Le cercle de la rue Royale, 1868. Henceforth, Tissot was the portraitist of feminine beauty and elegance, of aristocratic bearing and refinement.
After an unfortunate engagement with the Communards in 1871, he emigrated to England. During his London period, he produced ambitious compositions with numerous figures (The Ball on a Boat, London, Tate Gallery). Nautical parties, aristocratic picnics and ball scenes bear witness to the evolution of women's fashion, sometimes with a taste for exaggerated turns of phrase. Tissot also suggests an intimate exchange between couples, his elegant ladies embodying "the unfathomable feminine mystery".
Tissot made several trips to Palestine, landscapes he used in his illustrations for La Vie de N.-S. Jésus-Christ. The publication of his engravings was a considerable financial success for Tissot.
He was also interested in the technique of cloisonné enamels, influenced by the Japanese fashion of the early 1880s.
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