JAMES JACQUES JOSEPH TISSOT (French, 1836-1902)

Details

JAMES JACQUES JOSEPH TISSOT (French, 1836-1902)

Pendant L'Office (Martin Luther's Doubts)

signed and dated JAMES-TISSOT-/.1860. lower left--oil on panel
34¾ x 26¾in. (88.3 x 68cm.)

Provenance

Charles Waring (1868)
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 1886 (as Luther's Misgivings, in the Manner of Leys) to Manners for 84 gns.
Margaret Galbreaith, Hamilton, Ontario, sale, Christie's New York, May 21, 1986. lot 118

Literature

W. E. Misfeldt, James Jacques Tissot: A Bio-Critical Study, Ann Arbor (Univerity Micofilms), 1971, p.44
M. Wentworth, James Tissot, Oxford, 1984, pp. XIV, 29, 30, 35, 38, 57, 199 (illustrated pl. 10)
I. Thompson, "Tissot as Religious Artist", in James Tissot, ed. by K. Matyjaszkiewicz, London, 1984, pp. 89, 98, no. 4 (illustrated)

Exhibited

Paris, presumably exhibited at the Salon of 1861, no. 2969 Limoges, possibly exhibited at the Sociètè des Amis des Arts, 1862
Leeds, 1868 (as Young Luther in Church, Lent by Charles Waring)
Hamilton, Canada, Art Gallery of Hamilton, 1949-1985 (on loan from the Bequest of Margaret Galbreaith)
London, Barbican Art Gallery, James Tissot, Nov. 15, 1984-Jan. 20, 1985

Lot Essay

With the subject of Martin Luther, this painting reveals the influence of the artist, Baron Leys from Antwerp, where Tissot had recently returned. Martin Luther had figured prominently in Leys works, and Tissot would have seen this during his visit. The setting for our picture is very similar to the other Tissots from this time depicting Faust and Marguerite, however, the inclusion of Martin Luther, shown so prominently in the composition makes this painting more a statement of the passing Reformation reconstruction of the time.