James Tissot

France·1836-1902

James Tissot left his native Nantes for Paris in 1856 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts under Louis Lamothe and Hippolyte Flandrin. He became friends with Whistler, Degas, Morisot, and Manet, and made his salon debut in 1859. His early work drew on history painting, but by 1864 he had turned to scenes of modern life, achieving considerable success. After witnessing the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune, Tissot moved to London in 1871, where his reputation continued to flourish. He assembled an important collection of Japanese art and created fashionable works in that idiom. A defining relationship with Kathleen Newton lasted until her death in 1875, after which he returned to Paris. A major retrospective there in 1883 displayed paintings, drawings, and enamels. In his later years, Tissot abandoned secular subjects entirely, devoting himself to religious art and the illustration of Christ's life, driven by a turn toward spiritualism and faith.