James Tissot: biography of the artist and his works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

James Tissot became one of the most famous French artists, remembered for his remarkably restrained and slightly prim English style of work. The master depicted the life of high secular society, the leisure of ladies and gentlemen, everyday and walking scenes of the carefree life of an elite society, which made him an exceptionally "bohemian artist". In the last years of his life, the master turned to religious themes and created a large number of unique illustrations for the Old and New Testaments.

James Tissot

Jacques-Joseph Tissot entered the history of world artistic culture swiftly. This was partly due to an innate talent for drawing, partly due to a properly built policy for presenting their work. The enterprising Frenchman realized that the fashion was dominated by the English style. Moreover, he dominated everything - from the manner of drawing, themes, fashion industries and up toall areas of literature.

This is what prompted the wonderful artist to make the main concept of his work "bohemian English style". Tissot also changed his name, turning the French Jacques-Joseph into the English James, which also greatly contributed to the popularity of the artist solely because of the innate hostility of the British to representatives of other nations.

Biography

Artist James Tissot was born in 1836 in the small provincial town of Nantes, in the south of France, into a we althy family of a merchant who built his business selling fabrics. The father of the future artist, Marcel Tissot, was known as a man of great intelligence, and immediately noticed his son's talent for drawing. James's mother, Marie Durand, worked as a fashion designer, creating various styles of ladies' hats, and was also involved in the family business, which had a lot of influence on Tissot's future creative concept.

Growing up in an atmosphere of high fashion and expensive fabrics, the boy from an early age was accustomed exclusively to the bohemian social circle, as his father's shop visitors and mother's clients were far from the last people of the elite French creative circle.

Training

After graduating from school and reaching adulthood, James Tissot decided to move to Paris and begin his studies at the School of Fine Arts. The maintenance, paid annually by his father, was enough for a comfortable life in the capital and the purchase of expensive art supplies and books on art history and fashion culture.

In the capital, a young artistimmediately joined the elite circle of creative youth, which also included such prominent people as Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and James Whistler.

Partly at their suggestion, Jacques-Joseph took a sonorous pseudonym - James Tissot, which immediately made certain sections of high society pay attention to him.

Early years

Tissot wasted no time during his training. In 1859 he took part in the Paris Salon, where he presented to the public five works dedicated to the famous "Faust" by Goethe. The young master was lucky - one of his paintings was acquired by the Musee d'Orsay.

Soon Tissot was turning to the very style that would later make him famous. He began to draw pictures from the life of a secular society, depicting mainly secular ladies and gentlemen enjoying their leisure time.

Mature years

By the mid-70s of the 19th century, Tissot had become a famous artist in France. The sales of his paintings were more than successful, which allowed the master to travel a lot and make various creative trips to different countries.

In 1870, the artist moved to England, where the works of James Tissot instantly gained exactly the same popularity as in the master's homeland, but bringing the creator a considerable share of criticism. Many well-known art connoisseurs called the Frenchman’s works “coloured photographs”, “gossip columns” and did not predict long-term popularity or worldwide fame for the paintings, saying that “fashion will pass, Tissot will also pass.”

Private life

In 1870, the artist met Kathleen Newton, who had recently left her first husband. An affair began between Tissot and Kathleen, and the artist made her his muse. It is also known that Kathleen posed for many of the master's works.

In 1882, Mrs. Newton died of acute tuberculosis, which plunged Tissot into a deep depression.

Religious creativity

Devastated by the death of the woman he loved, James Tissot decided to return to Paris. Rehabilitation took the artist almost a year, and then Tissot realized that he wanted to devote the rest of his life to working on religious themes. The choice of the artist fell on the New Testament, and in 1886 James went to Palestine. His main goal was to study those places where Christ managed to visit during the years of his life. There, the artist made thousands of sketches and sketches in order to faithfully convey the views of the surrounding area and the atmosphere of this southern country in future illustrations.

In 1895, the aging artist returned to his homeland, where he worked long and hard on a series of paintings dedicated to events described in the New Testament.

In the same year, James Tissot's Life of Christ series, which includes exactly 365 illustrations, was presented by the master in Paris and immediately brought the creator great popularity in serious circles of connoisseurs of painting. The following year, a series of drawings was exhibited in London.

Critics noted the elaboration of the images,the historical accuracy of the illustrations, as well as the special atmosphere of those years, which the artist managed to convey on his canvases.

The most famous work of the series was "Christmas" by James Tissot. This painting has been used many times as an illustration for various religious publications.

In 1891, the master began work on a series of illustrations for the events of the Old Testament, but due to death he could not finish his plan, creating only about ninety drawings and a large number of sketches.

Military career

The artist took an active part in the Franco-Prussian War, after which he was forced to leave France, as he was suspected of helping the troops of the Communards. After moving to London, the master led a political struggle for some time, drawing caricatures on military topics. Later, the artist left this occupation, forever saying goodbye to the military theme, even in the field of art.