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JAMES TISSOT (Nantes, 1836-Chenecey-Buillon, 1902)
THE BALL
…
See original version (French)
63
-
JAMES TISSOT (Nantes, 1836-Chenecey-Buillon, 1902)
THE BALL
…
See original version (French)
Estimate €50,000 - €80,000
Voluntary lot
Description
JAMES TISSOT (Nantes, 1836-Chenecey-Buillon, 1902)
THE BALL
Original canvas
Dedicated and signed lower right "A l'ami Pierre (?) / J. Tissot"; inscribed in pencil on the reverse of the stretcher "Hotel de Paris 22 / J. Tissot n° 5194".
Frameless
Indentations, scratches and lifting
The ball, original canvas, dedicated and signed lower right, unframed, dents, scratches and liftings
65 x 40,50 CM - 25,6 x 15,9 IN.
PROVENANCE
Acquired from the artist's widow in the studio of James Tissot; always in the family.
Our painting is an initial idea painted around 1868-1869 that Tissot would not develop until ten years later for The Ball, which he exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1878 under the title The Evening, now in the Musée d'Orsay (fig. 1) and then for The Ambitious (Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo), painted around 1883-1884 (fig. 2). We know of a preparatory drawing for our sketch in which we find the black striations on the bottom of the dress marking the folds (sale in Paris, Hôtel Drouot, study Dumousset-Deburaux, 2 June 1995, no. 115).
Between our sketch and the Orsay painting, the artist refocused his composition on the young woman in three-quarter view, eliminating the ground and the curtain on the left. He accentuated the rotation of the body and the faux-cul of the dress, worthy of Worth, whose colour changed from blue to yellow. The ostrich-feather fan became a more seductive accessory. The decorum changed: the large blue Chinese porcelain vase was removed on the right, and the entrance to the room where the crowd was beginning to arrive was more open. The young woman's gaze is less fixed on the viewer and more focused on the guests.
In L'Ambitieuse, the movement is accentuated. The pink dress is even more voluminous, and the woman now faces the denser crowd. The interior is more luxurious and the velvet curtain frames the stage, marking the break between the shadow of privacy and the full light of the public. This work was etched by the artist. The model has been identified successively as Kathleen Newton and Lady Mary Craven, but neither was known to the artist at the time our painting was produced.
The two finished compositions are very much in the style of Victorian painting, characterised by an effusion of rich ornamental detail. Our painting has a greater simplicity and spontaneity, and is thus closer to early Impressionist research, particularly that of James Tissot's close friends Edouard Manet (the grey and blue tones of the dress) and Edgar Degas (the rhythmic framing of the verticals), and even an immediacy close to that of Berthe Morisot and Eva Gonzalès.
We would like to thank Krystyna Matyjaszkiewicz for kindly confirming the authenticity of this painting by email using a digital photograph taken on 24 April 2026.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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