Le Croquet
James Jacques Joseph Tissot
Description
Subject Matter:
This print reproduces a painting that Tissot showed at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1878 (now in the collection of the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada). Tissot, who emigrated from France amidst the chaos of the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune of 1870-71, often depicted upper-class leisure activities in a style inspired by Japanese prints. Croquet had became a popular pastime in England by the 1860s, and it is thought that this image shows Tissot's own garden in London's St. John's Wood district.
Physical Description:
A young woman in a black dress and white shawl holds a croquet mallet behind her back. She stands in the midground of the composition in a sunlit patch of grass strewn with three croquet In the foreground, three croquet balls mirror the wickets, and a white dog sits beneath a tree amongst a watering can and many small flower pots. Two more young women kneel and lounge in the grass in the background next to a small round pond with a fountain; an arcade of columns can be seen beyond the water.
Signed and dated, in the plate, l.l.: "J.J. Tissot / 1878"
Usage Rights:
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