James Tissot - In Full Sunlight (En plein soleil) [c.1881]

This small canvas is brimming with light and colour, from the ornate hats and parasol, to the sun-dappled grass and flowerbeds. The setting is likely the garden of Tissot’s home in London, where he lived from 1871 to 1882. Tissot’s companion, Kathleen Newton, is at the left. Her daughter, Muriel Mary Violet Newton, lounges beside her, and her son, Cecil George Newton, leans against the wall. The two other figures are not securely identified. Tissot’s depiction of a quiet, domestic moment was rather unusual for the artist, who is best known for his witty scenes of European high life.

 

[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil on wood, 24.8 x 35.2 cm]

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