James Tissot

James Tissot (born Oct. 15, 1836, Nantes, France—died Aug. 8, 1902, Buillon Abbey, near Besançon) was a French painter, engraver, and enameler noted for his portraits of late Victorian society.

After receiving a religious education, Tissot went to Paris at age 19 to study art. In 1859 he exhibited at the Salon (an official exhibition sponsored by the French government). Turning from his rather anguished early works to modern genre paintings and stylish portraits, he quickly became successful in the Paris art world. He fought in the Franco-German War (1870–71), later associating himself with the Paris Commune; in its aftermath he fled to London (May 1871). There he began to rebuild his career, establishing residence in St. John’s Wood, London. During that period he made many etchings, dry-points, and mezzotints, as well as paintings. In the late 1870s he also became interested in the craft of cloisonné enameling. Occasionally traveling abroad, he made London his home until November 1882, when his Irish mistress died.

Tissot returned to Paris. He struggled for a time to regain his former popularity but was not entirely successful. In 1885, after a mystical experience, he determined to illustrate a life of Christ. He took a number of trips to the Holy Land and produced some 350 watercolours of New Testament subjects, which were published in two volumes.

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