James Tissot became one of the most famous French artists, remembering at the same time surprisingly restrained and slightly prim English style of work. The master depicted the life of a 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 exclusively âbohemian artistâ. In the last years of his life, the master turned to religious topics and created a large number of unique illustrations for the Old and New Testaments.
James tissot
In the history of world art culture, Jacques-Joseph Tissot entered rapidly. This was partly due to an innate talent for drawing, and partly due to a properly structured policy of presenting his works. The enterprising Frenchman realized that the English style dominated fashion. Moreover, he dominated in everything - from the manner of drawing, themes, fashion industries and up to all areas of literature.
This is what prompted the wonderful artist to make the "bohemian English style" the main concept of his work. Tissot also changed his name, turning the French Jacques-Joseph into English James, which also greatly contributed to the artistâs popularity solely because of the innate hostility of the British towards representatives of other nations.
Biography
The artist James Tissot was born in 1836 in a small provincial town of Nantes, in the south of France, in a wealthy family of a merchant who built his business on the sale of 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 Duran, 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 got used exclusively to the bohemian circle of friends, since the visitors to his fatherâs shop and his motherâs clients were far from the last people in Franceâs elite creative circle.
Training
After graduating from school and reaching adulthood, James Tissot decided to move to Paris and start studying at the School of Fine Arts. The content annually paid to him by his father was enough for a comfortable life in the capital and the purchase of expensive art supplies and books on the history of art and fashion culture.
In the capital, the young artist immediately joined the elite circle of creative youth, which also included such prominent people as Eduard Manet, Edgar Degas and James Whistler.
Partly from their submission, Jacques-Joseph took a sonorous pseudonym - James Tissot, which immediately made certain sections of high society draw attention to him.
early years
Tissot did not lose time during training. In 1859 he took part in the Paris Salon, where he presented to the public five works dedicated to the famous Goethe's Faust. The young master was lucky - the State Museum of Orsay acquired one of his paintings.
Soon Tissot turned to the very style that would later make him famous. He began to draw pictures from the life of secular society, portraying mainly secular ladies and gentlemen, pleasantly spending their leisure time.
Mature years
By the mid-70s of the 19th century, Tissot became a famous artist in France. 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 masterâs homeland, but brought the creator a considerable amount of criticism. Many famous connoisseurs of art called the Frenchman's works âcolorized photographsâ, âsecular chroniclesâ and did not predict long-term popularity or worldwide fame, saying that âfashion will pass, Tissot will pass.â
Personal life
In 1870, the artist met with Kathleen Newton, who had recently left her first husband. An affair began between Tissot and Kathleen, and the artist made it his muse. It is also known that Kathleen posed for many of the masterâs works.
In 1882, Mrs. Newton died of an acute form of tuberculosis, which plunged Tisso into a deep depression.
Religious work
Devastated by the death of his beloved woman, James Tissot decided to return to Paris. For almost a year, the artist was deprived of rehabilitation, and then Tisso realized that he wanted to devote the rest of his life to work on religious subjects. The choice of the artist fell on the New Testament, and in 1886, James went to Palestine. His main goal was to study the places where Christ managed to visit over the years of his life. There the artist made thousands of sketches and sketches in order to reliably accurately 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 the events described in the New Testament.
In the same year, the series âThe Life of Christâ by James Tissot, which includes exactly 365 illustrations, was presented by a master in Paris and immediately brought the creator great popularity in serious circles of art connoisseurs. The following year, a series of drawings was exhibited in London.
Critics noted the elaboration of the images, the historical authenticity 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 the "Christmas" by James Tissot. This painting has been used many times as an illustration for various religious print media.
In 1891, the master began work on a series of illustrations for the events of the Old Testament, but because of 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 Communards. Having moved to London, the master waged a political struggle for some time, drawing cartoons on military subjects. Later, the artist left this lesson, forever saying goodbye to military topics, even in the field of art.