James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902)

A Declaration of Love

Details

James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902)
A Declaration of Love
signed 'J J Tissot' lower right
oil on panel
11 7/8 x 7¾in. (30 x 19.6cm.)

Provenance

With Wildenstein and Co., Buenos Aires
With Christopher Wood Ltd., London
John McShan

Literature

W.E. Misfeldt, The Albums of James Tissot, Bowling Green, 1982, p.66, Pl. III-30 (illustrated)
M. Warner, Tissot, London, 1982, p.19 (illustrated)
M. Wentworth, James Tissot, Oxford, 1984, pp.131, 133
James Tissot, Barbican Art Gallery, London and Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, exh. cat, 1984-85, p.120
James Tissot, Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, exh. cat., 1985, p.201
K. Matyjaskiewicz, ed., James Tissot, New York, 1985, p.120
C.Wood, Tissot, London, 1986, pp.84, 92 (illustrated pl.80)

Lot Essay

This self-portrait with his mistress Kathleen Newton and her niece, Lilian Hervey, dates to 1878. The artist writes "I love you" on the path alongside the Thames at Richmond and the subject matter epitomizes the relationship which was to inspire his most important paintings during his English period from 1876-1882. Lilian Hervey's pose is based on a photograph taken in Tissot's garden in St. John's Wood and she appears again in this pose in Waiting for the Ferry (Private Collection). Another composition from the same period depicting the artist with his muse, entitled Richmond Bridge places them at the same location.