Kayleigh Weir
Impressionism Paper
“Evening” by James Tissot In James Tissot’s painting titled “Evening,” the main character is seen arriving at a society event in a luxurious yellow dress. Tissot began his carrier as an academic painter depicting historical, mythical, and religious subjects. Later the work of James Tissot connects the importance of fashion with modern life in Paris and London during the late 19th century. The woman in “Evening” is on the arm of a gray haired well-dressed gentleman, depicting the role woman played as objects to wealthy men during this time. The woman in the forefront of “Evening”, was the muse of Tissot and inspired him to continue to evoke his portrayals of modern life. Originally Tissot’s style reflected the neoclassical training he had acquired in Paris beginning at the age of 20. He never much swayed from his stunning realism, which set his work apart from other impressionists’ rebellious tendencies. He did however become friends with impressionists such as Degas and Manet. This helped shift his subject matter from medieval and religious concepts (that would be typically found displayed in salons of the late 1800’s) to the portrayal of modern life. Tissot does a stunning job throughout his life as a painter depicting in particular the female fashions of high-class society.
In the painting “Evening” the viewers eye is immediately drawn to the elaborate dress worn by the woman in the center of the composition. A room full of people sporting other varieties of ball gowns and eveningwear surrounds her. It is clear that fashion was of vital importance to the people of this time. Women of higher class were adorned in the most ornate attires for any given occasion; the bourgeoisies (middle class) thought social setting to be of the utmost importance. People of lower class envied them for possessing these material objects that were becoming increasingly important to society during the age of impressionism. This arrival of mass production in the clothing industry can be attributed to the rapid industrialization and urbanization taking place in France and England (Isaacs, 2). Paris was the epicenter of all these new social and economic changes. Modernism refers to the art and culture resulting from a changing society in a time of revolution.
Tissot’s work, focusing on the beautiful fashions of women in the age of impressionism, made him very successful in his career. He did so in a way that was more precise than most other radical impressionists of the time, who for the most part abandoned the traditional ways of painting (with the use of looser brush strokes and changes in perception). He painted in a way that was almost too real, too good to be true. In “Evening” certain trademarks of impressionism-for example his use of depth-are there but on the surface it has a more traditional look.
The main woman painted in “Evening” wears a gown that screams impressionism. The beautiful flowing curves of her gown and fan extending from the curve of her shoulder are to die for. Not to mention the color. The entire painting casts a golden shade of yellow radiating from her dress. Underneath the impressive arabesque formed by the train of her gown, fabric with Japanese influenced motifs in water peeks out (most likely some sort of chair or an ataman). This part of the painting can be seen as a metaphor for the woman slipping effortlessly into the social scene before her, attracting attention with her beauty (Cogeval, 1). Her male companion is of much less importance in this painting. The viewer only sees the back of his head showing white hair. This diminishes his role to simply opening the door for his partner into the high-class world, as they are entering the scene from this paintings perspective (Cogeval, 1).
Also the woman’s stare is noteworthy. Often seen in Tissot’s portraits and other works of impressionists like Mary Cassat, a woman looking off in a certain direction signals the longing
