The love of an artist and a model that ended in great tragedy: James Tissot and Kathleen Newton

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

The successful artist James Tissot and the beautiful Irish woman with a questionable past, Kathleen Newton. What connected them - such different representatives of the same society? It was a great love that led to an equally great tragedy: the death of one and a personal lasting tragedy for another.

Who is she - Kathleen Newton?

In 1876, French and English artist James Tissot, at the height of his popularity, meets Kathleen (Kelly) Newton, a beautiful young Irish woman whose past, unfortunately, was not so beautiful. Kelly came from an Irish Catholic medical family and grew up in Lahore, India. Her father, Charles Frederick Ashburnham Kelly, is an officer in the Irish army. Mother, Flora Boyd, was born in Ireland and died early. The lack of maternal upbringing had its negative impact on the future of the girl. When Kathleen was sixteen years old, her father married her to Isaac Newton, a surgeon in the Indian civil service. While traveling to India, one of the passengers, Captain Palliser, became obsessed with her beauty and seduced her. Exhausted by remorse and on the advice of a Catholic priest, Kathleen told her husband what had happened and filed for divorce. However, her reputation was hopelessly ruined: she was spoken of as Palliser's mistress. Kathleen had to take her daughter and move in with her sister in St. John's Wood.

The status of a divorced lady, a daughter in her arms and a dubious relationship were enough to ruin their reputation and be expelled from respectable Victorian high society. In the elite London district of St. John's Wood, she met James Tissot, where the artist had his own luxurious home. They met, and later Kathleen became an inspiration for the painter, a muse, the greatest love. And, of course, he didn't care about her past at all. He was blinded by her soul and beauty. She was called "ravissante Irlandaise" ("delightful Irish woman"), and Tissot was fascinated by her Irish Catholic background. The artist described his life with Kathleen as "bliss at home." Love for Kathleen meant for Tissot that he would stop attending London evenings. This situation forced the artist to choose between his social life and Newton. To his credit, he chose his lady. Kathleen moved into the Tissot house and lived with him until her death in 1882. Tissot recalled these years as the happiest in his life. From now on, their family happiness was ensured by a cozy suburban life. But, of course, it would be wrong to think that Tissot became a hermit. She and Kathleen often invited guests and entertained their bohemian artistic friends at their home. In 1876, he painted her etching entitled Portrait of Mrs N., also called La frileuse. Kathleen Newton was an extremely attractive young woman who appeared in many of Tissot's paintings. All of Tissot's works with the model in the person of Kathleen are written so sensually and masterfully that any viewer will no doubt believe in the sincerity of the artist and model's affection. Kathleen was Tissot's muse and, posing for him, she was a mysterious woman, and a sad woman, and a femme fatale.

Kathleen's tragedy

However, this romantic story was overtaken by the classics of the genre. Family happiness Kathleen and Tissot was short-lived. In the late 1870s, the health of Muse Tissot began to deteriorate with the appearance of the plague of the 19th century - tuberculosis. In 1882, Kathleen, weak in spirit, could not stand the constant pain and hardships of the disease. She drinks an exorbitant dose of an opium tincture - landum, which she used as a pain reliever. A happy stretch of life ended in tragedy: Kathleen was buried behind the fence of the Kensal Green cemetery as a suicide. A week later, Tissot left his home in St. John's Wood and never returned. The house was later bought by Alma-Tadema. After the death of Kathleen Newton, Tissot returned to Paris.

The evolution of portraits with Kathleen Newton deserves special attention: before the illness, paintings with Kelly have a bright colorful summer palette. Tissot often depicts her with children, in the garden or playing and smiling.

But with the onset of the disease, the paintings undergo drastic transformations. From now on, the palette is used dark, gloomy. Kathleen lies in a lifeless position. Traces of the disease are noticeable both in the background of the picture and on the heroine's face. The artist's strokes have become sharper and rougher.

Tissot's personal drama

Tissot remained devoted to her all his life and no longer considered the question of marriage with anyone. The artist seemed unable to accept the enormity of what had happened. Personal tragedy, from which the artist was never able to fully recover, became a turning point in the work of Tissot. Like many Englishmen during this time, Tissot became interested in spiritualism and tried several times to contact the dead Kathleen. Thereafter, Tissot had a deep religious experience and became increasingly devout. From now on, the heroes of his paintings were not rich women, not representatives of an aristocratic society. Now Tissot was interested in the Bible. Catholicism, once transmitted by his mother, became a lifeline for him in this difficult time. The Bible became a reference book and a medicine that helped to cope with personal misfortune. He began to study religion so deeply that he even visited the Holy Land to see with his own eyes the places of all the plots. From now on, the main character of his canvases is Jesus. Tissot began a series of religious paintings, repeatedly visiting the Middle East to observe and paint backgrounds for his oil paintings. And, I must say, these pictures were well received at that time.

One of the most notable works of this period is "The Phenomenon of 1885", which Tissot created immediately after returning to Paris after the death of Kathleen Newton. It is based on a vision he had about Newton during a seance.

The work depicts a figure emitting light, standing next to a spiritual guide. Newton's niece, Lillian Hervey, recalled that after Kathleen's death, the grieving Tissot "wrapped her coffin in purple velvet and prayed beside him for hours." James Tissot himself died in the Belgian city of Bouillon on August 8, 1902.