10. James-Jacques-Joseph Tissot, French, 1836-1902. Seaside, 1878. Oil on canvas, 87.5 x 61 cm. Bequest of Noah L. Butkin, 1980.288

Seaside depicts James Tissot's mistress, Kathleen Newton, sitting by an open window. The relaxed pose and seaside setting suggest a summer vacation. Although the influence of impressionism can be seen in the bright colors of the sand, in the rough brush strokes of the figures strolling by the sea, and in the emphasis on contemporary life, the precise details and carefully finished surfaces of this painting distinguish Tissot's art from that of the impressionist painters. The dress is depicted with an attention to detail and pattern more characteristic of traditional painting, with every ruffle carefully outlined and the transparency of the sleeves suggested. The portrait owes a debt to the color harmonies of the Anglo-American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and the poetic and decorative painting style of the English artist Albert Moore (1841-1893). Tissot and both of these artists were associated with the Grosvenor Gallery in London.

Tissot was born in 1836 in Nantes, France, to a well-to-do family. The artist's meticulous attention to the details of fashionable contemporary dress, as seen in the portrait, perhaps relates to his father's business as a wholesale fabric merchant. In his early twenties, Tissot moved to Paris to study art. There he received most of his training with Louis Lamothe, a pupil of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Edgar Degas's former teacher. Tissot balanced Lamothe's academic teaching of drawing with the ideas of more innovative artists such as Degas himself. Thus, Tissot's style is a synthesis of conservative and more modern practices.

Vivian Kung and Patricia Richmond
Teacher Resource Center
Department of Education and Public Programs

© 1997 The Cleveland Museum of Art