James Jacques Joseph Tissot's Promenade Dans La Neige

There are but a few artists that can accurately render feelings. The emotion depicted in this painting by Tissot, is that of undying love.

James Jacques Joseph Tissot’s painting entitled “A Winter’s Walk” is of his beautiful Irish muse and later lover, Kathleen Newton – known as “Kate” to her friends and family. Kate was born in 1854 to Charles Ashburnham Kelly, an Irish army officer who was employed by the East India Company in Lahore, India; her mother, Flora Boyd, was from Ireland.

Kelly arranged a match for his sixteen-year-old daughter, Kate, with Isaac Newton, a surgeon in the Indian Civil Service. On the outward voyage to be married, however, a young sailor, Captain Pallisar, became entranced by her beauty. The girl nobly refused his advances but was, nonetheless, struck by the captain. After the marriage in 1870 and before consummation, Kate, on the advice of her pastor, explained to her new husband her love for Pallisar and the brief courtship.

Refusing to believe Kate’s innocence in the matter, Newton instituted divorce proceedings and ordered her back to England. Still in love with the young beauty, Pallisar paid for her passage, but only on the condition that she finally yield to his seductions. She ultimately became pregnant but refused to marry the captain. Her daughter Muriel Violet Mary Newton, called Violet, was born in Yorkshire on 20 December 1871 on the same day that her divorce was finalized. Kate and baby Violet went to live with Kate’s sister Polly and her husband in St John’s Wood, outside of London, England. It is here that she finally meets the man who would immortalize her, James Jacques Joseph Tissot.

Newton became the subject of many of his paintings. It is obvious in this painting that he adored her totally and loved to paint not just her beautiful face, but also to dwell on her dresses, pleats, ribbons, bows and hats. He had a great artistic talent, and also an eye for style and a feeling for chic. Although the people in his pictures are so elegant and pretty that they could have been a model out of fashion magazines, they are yet very human and just ordinary people. Every picture tells a story.

Soon after Tissot painted Kate in “A Winters Walk,” they moved in together.  Although their love affair scandalized Victorian London, it was of no concern to either of them.  Each considered the other the love of their life, and nothing else mattered. Tragically, their love affair lasted only a fleeting 5 years for soon into their relationship, Kate fell prey to tuberculosis.  As she became sicker and weaker she was unable to watch his grief and took her own life in November 1882.  The despondent Tissot sat by her coffin for four days.

I can’t think of one other single painting of a common person where so much is known about the subject.  The more I found out about her the more fascinated I became with her gutsy individuality, belief in freedom and choice, and her elegant beauty – the last of which she was utterly oblivious.

Interestingly, the whereabouts of this particular painting had previously been unknown until it came onto the market recently – much to the delight of Tissot historians. The newest edition of the catalogue raisonné will now feature this work rather than a mere representational etching based upon it. I feel incredibly fortunate to bring such important work in the artist’s oeuvre to you for consideration!

Chateau de l'Horizon by Sir Winston Churchill

I seem to know more about Churchill than any other artist whose work we sell.  Churchill is deeply woven into the history of the 20th Century. I find it fascinating to read about Churchill’s influence on the 20th century and relate it to his personal life and passion for painting.

Churchill received encouragement to seriously develop his art practice after receiving an amateur prize for 5 paintings he sent to Paris in the 1920’s. The paintings Churchill entered in the competition were some of his earliest works; lacking confidence in himself as an artist, Churchill actually submitted his work under a pseudonym. However, his winning the contest inspired him to take painting more seriously and paint under his true name.

Churchill possessed the heighted perception of an artistic genius to which no scene is common place. Churchill had the dedication of a true craftsman and understood the principles of art. He consulted professional art teachers and adopted the principles of Ruskin’s The Elements of Drawing. He spent time in Avignon, France studying the elegant Provençal light that inspired so many artists before him.

In this particular work, we look onto an intimate scene of Churchill’s son, Randolph Churchill and the Lady Castlerosse enjoying a quiet game poolside at the famed Chateau de l’Horizon, then owned by American actress and businesswoman Maxine Elliott. The chateau is nestled between the French Riviera and the rolling hillside of Cannes, and was a favorite holiday spot for the Churchills. Here we see the rich use of color that dominated his paintings. Between the flowing red awnings and the various shades of blue that encompass the pool, sea and sky, we really get a sense of the talent that emanated from this important statesman.

Painting outdoors to Churchill was half passion and half philosophy; it was there that he found another world. Painting was a means to escape from the pressures of his life. This quote sums up Churchill’s fulfilling relationship with the hobby, “When I get to heaven I mean to spend a considerable portion of my first million years painting, and so to get to the bottom of the subject.”

To see another lovely Churchill painting that we currently have to offer, please click here.

L'entrée du Chemin Creux by Camille Corot

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot is always considered a genius amongst 19^th century art historians. As the father of the Barbizon School, his images are praised for their elegant atmospheric qualities and gentle brushstrokes. Furthermore, his work is credited as a major influence on the later Impressionist movement.

One of the most compelling aspects of L’entrée du Chemin Creux, in my opinion, is its ability to blur the distinction between landscape and dreamscape. Corot achieves this with exceptional play of light, capturing the scene as the morning sun emerges. The unusual composition also contributes to this sentiment. The proportion of the figures (cow and peasant) to the surrounding trees is significant; here Corot really glorifies the vastness of nature.

Additionally, the painting has an impressive provenance; it was part of important French art collector Baron E. de Beurnonville’s large collection around 1880. Under American ownership, the painting was exhibited in Providence, Rhode Island. Of particular note, the painting later belonged to Bruno Pagliai, an Italian-born tycoon and close friend of Avila Camacho, former president of Mexico. Pagliai’s respected private art collection included works by El Greco, Botticelli, Van Dyck, Dali, Rivera and Corot.  Under his ownership, the painting was loaned to the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City for many years.

In admiring the piece, Monet’s famous quote about Corot comes to mind, “There is only one master here–Corot. We are nothing compared to him. Nothing.” This serene and captivating scene justifies Monet’s veneration for the artist; L’entrée du Chemin Creux is an exquisite example of this genius’ work.

To learn more about the piece, please click here.

“Politicians anxiously trying to find out just how serious the current economic difficulties are might like to take a look at the art market…The numbers can leave no one in doubt about the buyer’s readiness to part with cash.”

- Souren Melikian, “What’s in a Name? At Art Auctions, Lots of Money,” The New York Times, Nov. 5th, 2010

At the outset of Sotheby’s 19th Century European Art Sale on November 4th, 2010, the expected sale price of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s The Finding of Moses was set between $3 and $5 million dollars. When the gavel fell nearly eight minutes later, the final sale price was nowhere near that range. It was seven times that much. After an intense bidding war between three hopeful buyers, one of the undisclosed bidders won the exceptional painting for just under $36 million.

Setting a staggering new record for Alma-Tadema’s work—the same painting had set his previous record at $2.8 million in 1995—this sale was only the first of several record-breakers for the day’s auctions. Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Sale on the same date witnessed a new record set for Modern artist Amadeo Modigliani’s La Belle Romain, which sold for double its estimated price at $69 million and contributed to Sotheby’s overall sales of  $227.5 million.  And Christie’s followed suit, racking up $231.4 million with their 84-lot Impressionist and Modern Sale.

After a period of economic uncertainty, these record-shattering sales indicate that the art market is steadily regaining strength. Indeed, Sotheby’s had not seen such high numbers for an Impressionist and Modern sale since May of 2008. But with the U.S. stock market at a two-year high, wealthy individuals are again looking at art both for its beauty and for its investment potential. Knowing the rarity of fine art, these affluent connoisseurs come prepared to pay top dollar for works attached to the great masters of art history. But, in today’s economy, what more solid addition to a financial portfolio could one make? Whoever won Alma-Tadema’s The Finding of Moses actually received a bargain. It is one of the most beautiful works by one of the greatest artists of the 19th-century, and it comes with the security of most assuredly rising in value. For that, it is priceless.

“. . .the arrival of this thoroughly researched and extensively illustrated publication is well-timed, and text books will have to be rewritten as this work has permanently changed how art history of 19th Century Art should be taught.”

- artdaily.org post, October 27th, 2010

"Fleur de Rocaille" featured in Bartoli and Ross’ new cataloge raisonne

As a gallery that specializes in 19th-century European painting, we always get excited when new publications appear on one of the era’s all-stars. One of our favorites is William-Adolphe Bouguereau, an incredibly important artist whose story was silenced for far too long. Fortunately, Bouguereau is back in the spotlight with the recently-published definitive biography and catalogue raisonné of his work, produced by Damien Bartoli and Frederick Ross of the Art Renewal Center.

Bouquereau was, in his day, one of the most decorated and beloved artists of all time. “Each minute costs me 100 francs,” he quipped to a colleague at the pinnacle of career, as commissions cascaded into his studio. His touching genre scenes, infused with both classical refinement and romantic expression, made him a favorite of art collectors around the world. After his death in 1905, however, Bouguereau and his impressive oeuvre fell into obscurity, returning to artistic acclaim only within the last few decades. Publications like Bartoli and Ross’s help to secure Bouguereau’s status among the pantheon of 19th-century greats. The most complete portrait of an often-misunderstood artist, this catalogue raisonné not only re-writes the book on Bouguereau but opens up a new field of scholarship that explores the other artists of the 19th century that have yet to get their due.

To celebrate the arrival of such an important text, we decided to create a dedicated blog to all the other masters of 19th-century painting. Our goal is to not only showcase the best and brightest painters of the age, but also to shed a little light on what made them so important. We’re calling it “The Art Brief,” a taste of a dynamic century in a single-serving size. Stay tuned!