Why did people cry and pray at the paintings of James Tissot - the only artist who showed that he saw Jesus from the cross

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

James Tissot is a French and English artist, one of the most successful and wealthy painters, who lived through a tragic love story and who came to know God in his soul and on his canvases. This is the only artist who showed in his painting the look of Jesus from the cross.

About the artist

Jacques-Joseph Tissot (later he changed his name to James Tissot) is a famous French and English painter, popular in Europe, but subjected to merciless criticism in Russia. He was born in 1836 in the city of Nantes (a seaport on the French coast). His father, Marcel Theodore Tissot, was a successful drapery merchant. His mother, Maria Durand, helped her husband in the family business and designed hats. A devout Catholic, Tissot's mother instilled religious teachings in the future artist from a very early age. Unsurprisingly, young Tissot was sent to a boarding school run by the Jesuits. The place of residence had a significant role in his future work: throughout his life, Tissot retained an interest in the marine theme, the ability to paint accurate and detailed pictures of ship scenes played an especially important role.

At 17, Tissot already knew for sure that he wanted to build a career as an artist. Tissot Sr. did not seem enthusiastic about the prospect of having an artist son. The father still wanted him to continue the family business. But the young Tissot received the support of his mother, and subsequently the son's artistic talents became inevitable.

In 1856, Tissot went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. There, the young artist gains experience by copying works in the Louvre. And there he meets James Whistler, one of the most famous and unusual figures of art of the 19th century. Whistler, a secular lion who began his education at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, has such a strong influence on Tissot that he begins to call himself James. Around this time, Tissot became a friend of the Impressionist painters Edgar Degas and Manet.

One of the most successful artists

In 1859, Tissot's works were exhibited for the first time in the Paris Salon. Significant in this period was his painting "The Meeting of Faust and Marguerite", for which in 1860 the French government paid 5,000 francs. His father's commercial streak had a positive impact on Tissot: he fully inherited his shrewd commercial instincts and was a successful artist-entrepreneur. He had an unusually keen understanding of the market. He was always aware of what would be fashionable and what would be on sale. Tissot constantly received orders, his clientele was actively growing.

In 1872, he earned 94,515 francs, an income usually earned by the upper echelons of power. And by 1875 he was earning almost £ 5,000 a year - the same as the Foreign Secretary. Tissot was so successful that he allowed himself to buy a luxury home in London's trendy St. John's Wood. In 1874, Edmond de Goncourt sarcastically wrote that Tissot had a studio with a waiting room, where ice champagne was at all times at the disposal of visitors.

In addition, the artist became a traveler. Tissot visited Italy and London, where he first exhibited his canvases at the Royal Academy. Tissot recognized London's potential as a source of wealthy patrons for creative people early on.

The Love of a Lifetime - Kathleen Newton

In the mid-1870s, Tissot met Kathleen Newton (1854-1882), a beautiful woman who became his wife, model, and the great love of his life. The artist was so in love with her that he was not even embarrassed by her vicious past (she was divorced, had a child and dubious connections - this is already too much for the strict morality of society at that time). Unpleasant conversations in Tissot's circle forced him to make a choice: either his beloved, or following public opinion and a successful career. Tissot chose Kathleen and a quiet home life in a country house. However, family happiness did not last long: in the late 1870s, Kathleen's health began to deteriorate, she fell ill with tuberculosis, and in 1882 the desperately ill Kathleen committed suicide. Tissot was devastated by this loss, and never recovered from it. The artist was devoted to her until the end of his days.

Religious works

This tragic situation led to the fact that the artist abruptly changed the direction of his work. If earlier the subject of his paintings were the richest inhabitants of London and Paris, the most fashionable places and beautiful women in luxurious clothes, now the perspective of Tissot's canvases has acquired a pronounced religious character. Tissot began to deeply study the plots of the Bible and the stories of Jesus Christ, he even visited the Middle East to see the scenes of the scenes with his own eyes. He made several trips to the Holy Land and produced about 400 watercolors based on New Testament subjects.

With a brush in hand, he tries to "read" the entire Bible. The book, which was once a guide in his childhood, now becomes for him not just a tabletop, but also a window through which he experiences a personal tragedy and seeks to see the Creator. He is renowned for his Life of Christ and the Old Testament series, an acclaimed masterpiece of illustration. Drawings from this series have become canonical and have been used in the creation of modern films such as Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark by Steven Spielberg (1981) and Age of Innocence by Martin Scorsese (1993). Watercolors measuring only 20 × 25 cm made a splash at exhibitions in Paris, London, and then New York. The audience cried, knelt down, prayed in front of his paintings - they touched the living, as if they themselves were alive.

"What our Lord saw from the cross"

One of the most notable works - "What Our Lord Saw From the Cross" became significant in his work, since Tissot is the only artist who showed on his canvas what Jesus saw from the cross. In this painting, Tissot depicts a look from the cross. The foreshortening of the canvas is masterfully chosen: anyone looking at the picture feels like the Son of man. Before his eyes are the martyrs, and the guards, and the people. Believers and Doubters. Joyful, indifferent and suffering from what they saw. Christ sees everyone. If you pay attention, at the bottom of the picture, Tissot even depicted legs hanging from a cross. Under his feet is Mary Magdalene, crossing her arms in prayer. Behind her is Mary, the mother of Jesus. They look with pain at the suffering of the one they love more than life. Nearby is John the Baptist and several other women. On the right side - a group of priests and Pharisees, with haughty faces sitting on donkeys. But Jesus utters great words: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."