Lot Essay
By the Fireside is part of a series of pictures Tissot which began in 1868 and which occupied him into the 1870s. These paintings, commonly referred to as Directoire pictures, featured elegant ladies in eighteenth-century costume. They combined Tissot's interest in historical costume and contemporary fashion. Masterpieces of human psychology, they convey mood through the meticulous description of gesture and physical space. By the Fireside is a tour-de-force, showing Tissot at the peak of his career. He was highly regarded for his technical brilliance, precision of draftsmanship and high finish, and By the Fireside artfully depicts the sumptuous fabrics of the model's dress and the window treatments, the rich marbles of the fireplace and the deep hues of the oriental carpet.
Tissot gleaned inspiration for his paintings from his own life. It is likely that the interior depicted in By the Fireside is that of his fashionable Parisian home on Avenue de l'Imperatrice, where he lived after 1868 and which he also used as the setting for his painting L'escalier (fig. 1). Tissot also repeated the use of props in his paintings. The pug dog, hat and dress in By the Fireside can be found in other compositions from this period, including A la rivère (fig. 2) and Reverie (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts).
Paintings such as By the Fireside represented a dramatic turn away from the subjects of Tissot's earlier pictures and they established the artist as one of the greatest peintres des modes. A close friend of Degas and Manet, he came to share with them an interest in naturalism and the depiction of everyday life. Indeed, Degas wrote to Tissot to try to convince him to exhibit in the first Impressionist show: "Look here, my dear Tissot, no hesitations, no escape. You positively must exhibit at The Boulevard. It will do you good...and us too." His career already prospering, Tissot declined, perhaps because he feared reprisal for being associated with the renegade group. However, the dialogue between these artists is evident in the continued exchange of ideas in their work from this period.
Tissot was also influenced by Alfred Stevens, whose pictures of stylish women in contemporary settings, absent of moralizing tone, had found commericial success. Tissot's adaptation of this modern sensibility earned him a substantial following and the official sanction of the Salon whose officials granted him the hors concours in 1866, allowing him to exhibit works without first submitting them to the jury. By the Fireside differs from the other Directoire picture in its absence of a moralizing message. The other paintings were easily understood by Tissot's contemporary audience as having sexual overtones. The shift away from this message in his work reflects not only the influence of Stevens but also that of the English Pre-Raphaelite artists, who were interested not so much in plot as they were in context.
The advent of the Franco-Prussian war put a halt to Tissot's Directoire series. When he resumed them after his move to London, he showed the figures in Georgian costume in order to appeal to English taste.
(fig. 1) James Jacques Joseph Tissot, L'escalier
Private Collection
(fig. 2) James Jacques Joseph Tissot, A la rivière
Location Unknown
Tissot gleaned inspiration for his paintings from his own life. It is likely that the interior depicted in By the Fireside is that of his fashionable Parisian home on Avenue de l'Imperatrice, where he lived after 1868 and which he also used as the setting for his painting L'escalier (fig. 1). Tissot also repeated the use of props in his paintings. The pug dog, hat and dress in By the Fireside can be found in other compositions from this period, including A la rivère (fig. 2) and Reverie (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts).
Paintings such as By the Fireside represented a dramatic turn away from the subjects of Tissot's earlier pictures and they established the artist as one of the greatest peintres des modes. A close friend of Degas and Manet, he came to share with them an interest in naturalism and the depiction of everyday life. Indeed, Degas wrote to Tissot to try to convince him to exhibit in the first Impressionist show: "Look here, my dear Tissot, no hesitations, no escape. You positively must exhibit at The Boulevard. It will do you good...and us too." His career already prospering, Tissot declined, perhaps because he feared reprisal for being associated with the renegade group. However, the dialogue between these artists is evident in the continued exchange of ideas in their work from this period.
Tissot was also influenced by Alfred Stevens, whose pictures of stylish women in contemporary settings, absent of moralizing tone, had found commericial success. Tissot's adaptation of this modern sensibility earned him a substantial following and the official sanction of the Salon whose officials granted him the hors concours in 1866, allowing him to exhibit works without first submitting them to the jury. By the Fireside differs from the other Directoire picture in its absence of a moralizing message. The other paintings were easily understood by Tissot's contemporary audience as having sexual overtones. The shift away from this message in his work reflects not only the influence of Stevens but also that of the English Pre-Raphaelite artists, who were interested not so much in plot as they were in context.
The advent of the Franco-Prussian war put a halt to Tissot's Directoire series. When he resumed them after his move to London, he showed the figures in Georgian costume in order to appeal to English taste.
(fig. 1) James Jacques Joseph Tissot, L'escalier
Private Collection
(fig. 2) James Jacques Joseph Tissot, A la rivière
Location Unknown