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London Visitors

Artist James Tissot (French, 1836-1902)

Place of OriginLondon, England

Dateabout 1874

DimensionsPainting: 63 × 45 in. (160 × 114.3 cm)
Framed: 75 1/4 × 57 1/4 × 4 7/8 in. (191.1 × 145.4 × 12.4 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1951.409

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 33

Label TextOutside the National Gallery in London a fashionable tourist couple decides what to see next. The woman points her umbrella imperiously in the direction of Trafalgar Square while her oblivious companion consults a guidebook. Meanwhile, a young guide from Christ’s Hospital School stands by, bored, his services unengaged. The painting seems a straightforward, rather humorous look at sightseers in London. But is there more going on here? The woman breaks some important Victorian social rules. Her dress is too ostentatious for a day spent touring the city. Furthermore, her forthright gaze—apparently locking eyes with someone on the steps (or with the viewer of the painting)—is a breach of feminine propriety. A proper Victorian lady never made eye contact with strangers. The abandoned cigar on the steps provocatively suggests an unseen male presence. French artist James Tissot moved to London in 1872. A keen observer of the fashion and manners of the newly wealthy British middle class, many of his paintings suggest narratives of social “mistakes,” both innocent and deliberate.Published ReferencesLaver, J., "Vulgar Society," The Romantic Career of James Tissot, 1836-1902, London, 1936, p. 67.

Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, June-July 1952, pp. 1-2, repr. on cover.

Reynolds, G., Painters of the Victorian Scene, London, 1953, p. 99, fig. 102.

Flaizik, J.N., "Pictorial Literature," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, III, Spring 1960, pp. 44-45, repr. p. 41.

Hadfield, John, A Book of Pleasures, London, 1960, no. 82, p. 243, repr. p. 82 (col.).

Clarke, A. G., "But Were These Londoners 'Guides?'," The Blue, vol. XC, no. 2, April 1963 (Published by Christ's Hospital, copy of publication in Tissot Documentary folder).

Rosenblum, R., "Victorian Art in Ottawa," Art Journal, XXV, Winter 1965-1966, p. 140, fig. 6.

A Guide to the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, repr.

Wittmann, Otto, "Director's Choice," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 511, repr. (col.) pl. XXIII.

Janis, E. P., "Tissot Retrospective," Burlington Magazine, CX, May, 1968, p. 303, fig. 98.

Maas, J., Victorian Painters, London, 1969, p. 243, repr. p. 242.

Potterton, Homan, A Guide to the National Gallery, London, [1976], p. [4], repr. frontispiece.

The Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 159, pl. 241.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 72.

Varnedoe, J. Kirk T., "Caillebotte: An Evolving Perspective," Gustave Caillebotte: A Retrospective Exhibition, Houston, 1976, p. 50, repr. fig. 8 (not in exhibition).

Wentworth, Michael Justin, James Tissot, Catalogue Raisonné of His Prints, Minneapolis, 1978, p. 178, repr. fig. 40b.

Piper, David, Artist's London, London, 1982, pp. 107, 110, repr. p. 106.

Rosenblum, Robert and H. W. Janson, 19th Century Art, New York, 1984, p. 357, repr. (col.) pl. 57.

Wentworth, Michael, James Tissot, Oxford, 1984, pp. 7, 75, 94, 106, 117, 119, 133, 155, 162, 165, 201, repr. pl. 106.

James Tissot 1836-1902: An Exhibition of Etchings, London, William Weston Gallery, cat. no. 11, 1984, no. 16.

Wood, Christopher, Tissot: The Life and Work of Jacques Joseph Tissot 1836-1902, London, 1986, p. 69, fig. 66 (col.).

1888: Frederick Layton and His World, Milwaukee Art Museum, 1988, p. 136, [not in exhibition].

Ash, Russell, James Tissot, New York, 1992, pl. 19 (col.) with text opposite.

Shanes, Eric, Impressionist London, New York, 1994, pp. 61, 64, 82, pl. 46, p. 63.

Russell, John, London, New York, 1994, p. 25, repr. (col.).

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 132, repr. (col.).

Wood, Christopher, Tissot: The Life and Work of Jacques Joseph Tissot 1836-1902, London: Artus Books, 1995, p. 69, fig. 66 (col.) p. 70.

Kern, Stephen, Eyes of Love: the Gaze in English and French Paintings and Novels 1840-1900, London, 1996, pp. 69-70, fig. 32.

Rosenfeld, Jason, "Exhibition Reviews: The Victorians in Washington," Apollo, vol. 145, no. 423, May 1997, p. 72, fig. 2 (col.).

King, Laura, "The Cover," Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 277, no. 22, June 1997, p. 1744, repr. (col.) cover.

Warner, Malcolm, The Victorians: British Painting 1837-1901, Washington, D. C., National Gallery of Art, 1997, no. 47, pp. 151-152, repr. (col.).

Lochnan, Katharine, ed., Seductive Surfaces: The Art of Tissot, New Haven, 1999, pp. 27, 130, 189, pl. XVIII (col.).

Marshall, Nancy Rose and Malcolm Warner, James Tissot: Victorian Life/Modern Love, New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, 1999, no. 23, pp. 16, 71-73, 75, repr. p. 17 (col. det.), p. 70 (col.).

May, Stephen, "The Art of James Tissot," Art & Antiques, vol. 23, no. 3, March, 2000, p. 153.

Henderson, Anne, "Learning How They Learn: The Family in the Museum" Museum News (AAM), vol. 79, no. 6, Nov./Dec. 2000, repr. p. 40 and on cover (det., col.).

Duncan, Sally Anne, Otto Wittmann: Museum Man for All Seasons, Toledo, 2001, p. 17.

Herman, Amy, "Masterpieces of European Painting from the Toledo Museum of Art," The Frick Collection Members' Magazine, Fall 2002, pp. 5-6, repr. on cover (det., col.).

Sachs, Samuel, Masterpieces of European Painting from the Toledo Museum of Art, New York, Frick Collection, 2002, p. [3, 15], repr. (col.).

Robins, Anna Gruetzner and Richard Thomson, Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec: London and Paris 1870-1910, London, Tate, 2005, pp. 18-19, 141.

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2005, p. 38, repr. (col.) and det. (col.) on cover.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 260, repr. (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2009, p. 38, repr. (col.)

Marshall, Nancy Rose, City of Gold and Mud: Painting Victorian London, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2012, p. 24, fig. 9 (col.) p. 25

Kanwit, John Paul M., Victorian Art Criticism and the Woman Writer, Columbus, Ohio State University Press, 2013, repr. (col.) cover

Eastberg, John C., and Eric Vogel, Layton's Legacy: a Historic American Art Collection, 1888-2013, Milwaukee, Layton Art Collection, Inc., 2013, p. 110, 113, repr. (col.) p. 113.

Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art, New York, Christie's, June 17, 2014, repr. p. 43, fig. 4.

Lomax, James, et al., eds., Cornucopia: Essays on Architecture, Sculpture and Decorative Arts in Honour of Terry Friedman (1940-2013), Leeds, Leeds Art Fund, 2015, repr. (col.) cover.

Lee Cheshire, London in Paint, Tate Publishing, 2017, pp. 100-101, repr. (col.) p. 100.

Perrin, Paul, James Tissot: L'ambigu moderne, Paris, Beaux Arts Editions, 2020, p. 132, repr. (col.) p. 133, no. 81.

Exhibition HistoryLondon, Royal Academy, 1874, no. 116.

Paris, Palais de l'Industrie, Exposition des oeuvres de M.J.-J. Tissot organize par l'Union Centrale des Arts Decoratifs, March 1883, [as "Au Musee de Londres"].

London, Leicester Galleries, 1937, no. 16.

Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Victorian Artists in England, 1965, no. 147.

Providence, Rhode Island School of Design, James Jacques Joseph Tissot, 1968, no. 19.

Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), 1968.

Providence, Providence Museum of Art, 1968.

Washington, D. C., National Gallery of Art, The Victorians: British Painting 1837-1901, Feb. 16-May 11,1997.

New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, James Tissot: Victorian Life/Modern Love, 1999.

New York, Frick Collection, Masterpieces of European Painting from the Toledo Museum of Art, Oct. 29, 2002-Jan. 5, 2003.

Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, Speaking Visual: Learning the Language of Art, Oct. 31, 2014-Jan. 25, 2015.

San Fransisco, California, de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Fransisco; Paris, France, Musee d'Orsay, James Tissot, 1836-1902, October 12, 2019-September 13, 2020.