James Tissot

The painter James Tissot shows up as a minor character in a book I'm reading (Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders), so I've been checking him out.  Above is his portrait of Colonel Frederick Barnaby.

As a veteran of many life-drawing classes, the first thing I notice in this painting is the anatomical errors.  Barnaby apparently has two elbows in his distant arm, which is also way too long, and the length of the legs is so exaggerated that if the figure stood up, he would look like he was on stilts.

But there are also things I like about this painting.  I like the way the figure divides the page.  I like the handling of the map on the wall.  There's an interesting play-off between the strong, primitive black-white-and-red passages and the pastels around them.

Here's another portrait by Tissot, of the Marquise de Miramon:

This one has anatomical problems too -- the forward shoulder is tense, and the distant arm looks very unnatural.  But the handling of the drapery is superb, and I like the composition.  (I could do without some of the white objects cluttering the place up, though.)

After the death of his mistress, Tissot had a religious conversion and devoted the rest of his life to a cycle of paintings about the life of Christ (in the book I'm reading, Oscar Wilde remarks: "hasn't our Lord suffered enough?")  Here's one:

I like this painting -- I think it really shows Tissot's strengths in composition and graphic design.