James Tissot: Fashion & Faith: “A painting by Mr. Tissot will be enough for the archeologists of the future to reconstruct our era.”

James Tissot, "The Ball on Shipboard," ca. 1874. Oil on canvas. Tate Britain Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

James Tissot: Fashion & Faith; Legion of Honor, From October 12, 2019 - February 9, 2020

“A painting by Mr. [James] Tissot will be enough for the archeologists of the future to reconstruct our era.” — Élie Roy, “Salon de 1869,” L’Artiste 40 (July 1869)

James Tissot (1836–1902) was one of the most celebrated French artists during the 19th century, yet he is less known than many of his contemporaries today. Presenting new scholarship on the artist’s oeuvre, technique, and remarkable life, James Tissot: Fashion & Faith provides a critical reassessment of Tissot through a 21st-century lens. The exhibition, co-organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Paris, includes approximately 60 paintings in addition to drawings, prints, photographs, and cloisonné enamels, demonstrating the breadth of the artist’s skills. The presentation at the Legion of Honor is the first major international exhibition on Tissot in two decades and the first ever on the West Coast of the United States.

“The work of James Tissot provides a fascinating lens onto society at the dawn of the modern era. Long recognized as a keen observer of contemporary life and fashion, this exhibition brings new light to his narrative strengths and his skill in portraying the emotional and spiritual undercurrents that exist below surface appearances,” states Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “Continuing the Fine Arts Museums’ tradition of contributing original scholarship around key works in our collection, we are thrilled to introduce the perspective of this enigmatic, prolific artist in the first exhibition of his work to take place on the West Coast.” Holy Day

James Tissot, French, 1836–1902 "Holyday" (The Picnic), ca. 1876. Oil on canvas. Tate Image provided courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Tissot’s works have been highly sought after for US collections, and, as such, James Tissot: Fashion & Faith draws from the rich holdings of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and numerous private collections, in addition to private and public collections throughout Europe and Canada, including those of Tate, London; the Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie; the Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris; the Musée d’Arts de Nantes; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal. In addition, new findings on Tissot’s materials and painting technique — resulting from an extensive, unprecedented study of Tissot paintings and led by the paintings conservation department at the Fine Arts Museums — are revealed in the exhibition.

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James Tissot: Fashion & Faith: “A painting by Mr. Tissot will be enough for the archeologists of the future to reconstruct our era.”

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