Victorian England and religion had been a particular attraction to James Tissot. His most famous works include the Portrait of Miss Lloyd and
The Ball . When Jacques Tissot was born in Nantes, the painter began his painter training in Paris at the age of 19. At the Academy of Fine Arts, he studied among others at two major French artists of the 19th century -
Hippolyte Flandrin and
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres . His first exhibition was opened in 1859 in the Salon de Paris.
The final breakthrough as an artist succeeded James Tissot 1861. At this time, the French state bought his work
Rencontre de Faust et de Marguerite and exhibited it in the Musée du Luxembourg. During his time in Paris, Tissot also met
Édouard Manet and
Edgar Degas . The latter made 1867 one of the most famous portraits of Tissot.
During the Franco-Prussian War, the artist was forced to flee to England. There he changed his name and made a name for himself as a genre and portrait painter. In addition, he expanded his skills during this time and learned the art of etching. He also worked as a cartoonist for the English magazine Vanity Fair. His most important works of this period include, for example, a
portrait of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck . In his later work, Tissot increasingly turned to religious topics.
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