Lot 130

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Description:

James Tissot ALS Listing 5 Paintings, Including 3 Future Submissions to the 1861 Paris Salon

A 1p autograph letter in French inscribed overall and signed by French Realist painter James Tissot (born Jacques Joseph Tissot) (1836-1902) as "James Tissot" near the bottom. N.d., but context suggests circa 1861. Written at Tissot's family home, the Château de Buillon, located near Besançon in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Written on a single leaf of mourning stationery. Expected wear including light paper folds, edge chipping, and uneven trimming of the black paper border, else near fine. 5.125" x 8.5." Accompanied by a color postcard of one of Tissot's later paintings, "The Concert" (also known as "Hush") (1875). Provenance: Ex-Noel Goldblatt (ca. 1926-2003) of the famous Goldblatt's Department Store, to a prominent Los Angeles, California collector.

James Tissot probably wrote this undated letter to a potential buyer shortly after May 4, 1861. That was when Tissot's mother, Marie Durand (1802-1861), had died, and certainly explains his use of mourning stationery as well as Tissot's comments about a recent "very sad event."

Translated in full, with original punctuation and usage:

"Sir

A very sad event just happened to my family and prevented me from responding earlier to your letter

here [are] the prices of my paintings:

1 pendant l'office ……… 4000
2 rencontre de faust et de Marg. ……… 10000
3 Marguerite au Jardin ……… 7000
4 Marguerite a l'Eglise ……… 8000
5 Danse macabre ……… 7000

Be assured Sir [of] my perfect consideration

James Tissot

chateau de Buillon
canton de Quingey
Doubs."

This list includes known Tissot works created between 1859-1861, which further corroborates a date of 1861 for the letter. The works offered for sale included:

- "Pendant L'Office," [trans: "During the Service," whose alternate title is "Martin Luther's Doubts"] (1860)

- "[Premier] Rencontre de Faust et de Marguerite," [trans: "[First] Meeting of Faust and Marguerite"] (1860)

- "Marguerite au Jardin," [trans: "Marguerite in the Garden"] (before 1861)

- "Marguerite à L'Église," [trans: "Marguerite at Church"] (before 1861)

- "Danse Macabre," [trans: "Dance of Death," whose alternate title is "Way of Flowers, Way of Tears"] (1860)

This group of artwork reflected Tissot's increasing interest in medieval art, literature, history, and culture, particularly in the German legend of Faust (see attached images of Tissot's paintings.) In 1859, Tissot had trained under Belgian artist Hendrik Leys, who had painted "Faust and Marguerite" in 1856. Tissot began a Faustian series around 1860, depicting scenes from the story retold by Goethe in 1808. Tissot's series included the three paintings listed above: "[First] Meeting of Faust and Marguerite"; "Marguerite in the Garden"; and "Marguerite at Church." Tissot later exhibited these three paintings in the Paris Salon of 1861. Tissot's historical paintings of this ilk were meticulously executed. His commitment to depicting the architecture, furnishings, and costume in his paintings in a historically accurate manner was almost academic. The result was immersive: the viewer absorbed the minutest details of the paintings and the boundary between canvas and the real world became blurred.

Tissot's price index was ambitious considering that he was only in his early 20s and had just arrived on the official French art scene two years earlier, in 1859. Tissot's prices were out of the reach of all but the extremely wealthy, or of the French state. (Tissot's retail price of 10,000 francs for "First Meeting of Faust and Marguerite" represented ten annual salaries of an average French male, circa 1860-1865!) This painting was eventually bought by the French government in July 1860 for 5,000 francs--or a 50% discount--for display in the Luxembourg Museum.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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September 29, 2021 10:30 AM EDT
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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000