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Lot Essay
The watercolours Tissot exhibited in 1883 comprise several studies from the model, replicas made in the presence of oil originals, and recreations of sold paintings based on memory and pre-sale photographs. Kew Gardens, with its freshness and fluent, light touch, falls into the latter category. Tissot had sold the oil version in June 1879, as Visitors at Kew, to, or through, the dealer Arthur Tooth & Sons, who passed it on to a purchaser two days later. Replicas in oil or watercolour were eagerly sought after by collectors, dealers and organisers of provincial exhibitions in Britain, so it was Tissot’s usual practice to make additional versions. Most of these had been sold by the time he returned to Paris and Tissot recreated several of his oil paintings in watercolour. Alfred de Lostalot included an engraving after Kew Gardens among illustrations to a biographical article reintroducing Tissot to French audiences, for large-format volumes about the Society of French Aquarellists published by Goupil & Cie (with an American edition edited by Edward Strahan). De Lostalot recounted how some connoisseurs had been surprised to learn that ‘this delightful painter of English manners’ was a Frenchman, who had been well-known at Salon exhibitions until 1870, after which ‘the countrymen of Tissot were to hear nothing more of him’ except ‘the report of scenes painted by him in England’.
Among Tissot’s London pictures were many set in streets, parks, railway stations, quaysides, or locations along the Thames riverside. Most of those from 1878-1882 feature Kathleen Newton as model, with a male companion based on one of several regular sitters. The bearded man in a wide-brimmed hat also appears in paintings such as The Widower, 1876 (Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney) and Holyday, 1876-77 (Tate Britain). Kathleen wears a greenish-blue tartan outfit with matching muff, and a sleeveless fur jacket, also seen in Richmond Bridge, c.1878 (Private Collection) and The Warrior’s Daughter, 1878-79 (Manchester Art Galleries). The face veil below her hat gave protection from soot and dust of travel. She also has an umbrella: visiting the Temple of the Sun, where she and her companion sit, is no guarantee of good weather. Placed cleverly to one side of the temple podium, it leads our eyes up around the composition. Kew is likely to have been a regular destination as Tissot was fond of exotic and native flowers and plants, which filled his London garden and conservatory. Fresh air away from city smoke was beneficial for Kathleen’s health but she contracted tuberculosis and died at the young age of twenty-eight.
We are grateful to Krystyna Matyjaszkiewicz for her assitance in preparing this catalogue entry.
Among Tissot’s London pictures were many set in streets, parks, railway stations, quaysides, or locations along the Thames riverside. Most of those from 1878-1882 feature Kathleen Newton as model, with a male companion based on one of several regular sitters. The bearded man in a wide-brimmed hat also appears in paintings such as The Widower, 1876 (Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney) and Holyday, 1876-77 (Tate Britain). Kathleen wears a greenish-blue tartan outfit with matching muff, and a sleeveless fur jacket, also seen in Richmond Bridge, c.1878 (Private Collection) and The Warrior’s Daughter, 1878-79 (Manchester Art Galleries). The face veil below her hat gave protection from soot and dust of travel. She also has an umbrella: visiting the Temple of the Sun, where she and her companion sit, is no guarantee of good weather. Placed cleverly to one side of the temple podium, it leads our eyes up around the composition. Kew is likely to have been a regular destination as Tissot was fond of exotic and native flowers and plants, which filled his London garden and conservatory. Fresh air away from city smoke was beneficial for Kathleen’s health but she contracted tuberculosis and died at the young age of twenty-eight.
We are grateful to Krystyna Matyjaszkiewicz for her assitance in preparing this catalogue entry.