SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 26 — The exhibition “James Tissot: Fashion & Faith”, which will open next October, marks the first major international exhibition dedicated to the 19th-century painter in two decades.
The retrospective will feature around 60 works by the French artist who, despite renown, today has a lower profile than many of his contemporaries.
Among the works are paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and cloisonné enamels, which demonstrate the breadth of his artistic practice.
Tissot’s early work mainly consisted of medieval scenes from history and literature, such as his 1863 canvas “Le depart de l’enfant prodigue”.
At that time, he changed direction and became a painter of modern life, although he did not formally belong to the Impressionist circles and never exhibited in their group shows.
In 1869, the critic Elie Roy famously praised Tissot’s abilities to portray 19th-century society, writing: “[if] our industrial and artistic creations may perish, our customs and costumes may fall into oblivion, a painting by Mr Tissot will be enough for archaeologists of the future to reconstruct our era.”
Notable examples of his genre pictures include the 1874 canvas “The Ball on Shipboard”, as well as “Holyday”, also known as “The Picnic”.
The exhibition also chronicles his complicated friendship with mentee Edgar Degas, whom he met during his brief artistic training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
“James Tissot: Fashion & Faith” also highlights the influence of Tissot’s mistress and muse, Kathleen Newton, who committed suicide in 1882 to end her suffering from tuberculosis.
As popular during the late 19th century, the painter attended several spiritualist seances, depicting one of them in his 1885 mezzotint “The Apparition”.
This work, which was long thought to be lost or destroyed, features the ghost of Kathleen Newton with a sprit guide as they reportedly appeared to him during a seance.
The exhibition also includes new findings on Tissot’s materials and painting technique along with recently rediscovered photographs and a sales notebook that provide a window into his life and career.
“For the past few years, my colleagues and I have been on the trail of Tissot, re-examining works and uncovering previously unpublished information that provides insight into his career [...]. Drawing from our findings, ‘James Tissot: Fashion & Faith’ provides new perspectives on where and how Tissot should be considered in the 19th-century canon,” curator Melissa Buron notes in a statement.
“James Tissot: Fashion & Faith” will be on view from October 12 through February 9, 2020 at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.
The exhibition will then travel to the Orsay and Orangerie museums in Paris, where it will run as a joint exhibition from March 23 through July 19, 2020. — AFP-Relaxnews
