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Lot Essay
La Partie Carrée, also known as The Foursome, is a visually stunning and immensely significant work in the oeuvre of James Jacque Joseph Tissot's career. Painted in 1870, it is the artist's largest and most attractive painting from a group of approximately seven works commonly referred to as the Directoire series. La Partie Carrée was also one of the last paintings Tissot produced in Paris during the Second Empire. This was probably Tissot's last popular appearance at the Salon since less than a year later he was obliged to flee to London as a result of his widely debated yet never confirmed involvement with the Commune. Furthermore, in the Salon of 1870 La Partie Carrée, together with another stunning work titled Jeune Femme en bateau, accomplished something which no other work by Tissot has: they received both the high praises of the art critics as well as the attention of the public.
The Directoire series immediately followed another of Tissot's popular periods - modern life paintings - which he produced between 1863 and 1868. Established in 1795, and overthrown by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1799, the Directoire was a period with one major political accomplishment: a new constitution, so that for the first time in France's history the right to own property was recognized. The attraction of the Directoire is its fascination with debauchery, hedonism and all that is luxurious. The Second Empire, particularly the court of Empress Eugénie, resurrected such indulgence in luxury.
In Tissot's career, abrupt changes in style were not uncommon. A close friend of both Manet and Degas, Tissot was well informed of the changing modern taste and followed such popular vogues as japonaiserie or, as we see in the present work, the dejeuners, the incroyables and the merveilleuses of the Directoire period. There is an undeniable resemblance in the La Partie Carrée to Manet's Dejeuner sur l'herbe of 1863 (fig. 1), which, when exhibited at the Salon, created a scandal of immense scale. Manet's depiction of blatant nudity and eroticism was ground breaking and modern. Tissot, perhaps due to his strict catholic upbringing, or his merchant family background, or even his fear of financial distress, was not eager to take risks in his painting and avoided scandal in his art. He always aimed to please the aesthetic of the general public, which is why he refused an invitation from Degas to exhibit with the Impressionists in 1874. In a sense, it is this very fear of scandal that makes La Partie Carrée notable. Tissot's conservative and middle class perspective into a period notorious for its debauchery and frivolousness provides us with probably the most detailed and unique handling of this subject.
Having grown up around a father who was a linen draper and a mother who ran a successful millinery business, Tissot's vast knowledge of the fashions of the day and his comprehensive method of recording the period costumes is not surprising. In fact, Tissot was so preoccupied with elegant women and their elaborate dresses that his paintings not only provide extensive material for those who study costume, but reveal their narratives in greater detail through what appears initially as minutia or even as clutter. The sensuality of La Partie Carrée is immediately apparent in the fixed gaze of the woman on the viewer; she offers an invitation or even approves of the viewer's voyeurism. Yet, there is an underlying eroticism in this picture that is more subtlety communicated. Prior to the invention of the cage crinoline in 1856, a well-brought-up lady was supposed to have 'eight layers of refinement', or today one might call them simply eight layers of undergarments, which separated her from the outside world - her chemise, corset, corset-cover, crescent-shaped pad worn at the back of the waist and at least four petticoats. The very last layer usually trimmed with lace was the only layer that could be revoked to the public when climbing up the stairs or getting off a carriage. The display of any other undergarment along with exposed skin would suggest inappropriate behavior or an adventurously provocative woman. Tissot's lady in the striped brown gown not only displays plenty of her outer petticoats but also reveals her blue embroidered stockings. The pink rose placed carefully near her bosom intensifies the sensation of such risqué behavior. Traditionally, upon their first encounter, the woman was expected to place the flower that was delivered to her by her fiancé somewhere on her person. Her preference of position was an insinuation of her response to the previously unseen suitor. Particularly a placement of a rose near one's bosom signaled more than abundant attraction. In cases of extreme attraction, hiding the flower would have meant 'Find it!". Fans, handkerchiefs and parasols were also used for silent messaging between flirting couples. For example a wide-open fan meant 'wait for me' whereas a closed parasol meant 'I wish to speak to you'. In La Partie Carrée, both of these objects are carefully placed in the composition as if to give the viewer a better sense of the flirtatious narrative.
fig. 1. Edouard Manet, Dejeuner sur l'herbe, Musée D'Orsay, Paris
The Directoire series immediately followed another of Tissot's popular periods - modern life paintings - which he produced between 1863 and 1868. Established in 1795, and overthrown by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1799, the Directoire was a period with one major political accomplishment: a new constitution, so that for the first time in France's history the right to own property was recognized. The attraction of the Directoire is its fascination with debauchery, hedonism and all that is luxurious. The Second Empire, particularly the court of Empress Eugénie, resurrected such indulgence in luxury.
In Tissot's career, abrupt changes in style were not uncommon. A close friend of both Manet and Degas, Tissot was well informed of the changing modern taste and followed such popular vogues as japonaiserie or, as we see in the present work, the dejeuners, the incroyables and the merveilleuses of the Directoire period. There is an undeniable resemblance in the La Partie Carrée to Manet's Dejeuner sur l'herbe of 1863 (fig. 1), which, when exhibited at the Salon, created a scandal of immense scale. Manet's depiction of blatant nudity and eroticism was ground breaking and modern. Tissot, perhaps due to his strict catholic upbringing, or his merchant family background, or even his fear of financial distress, was not eager to take risks in his painting and avoided scandal in his art. He always aimed to please the aesthetic of the general public, which is why he refused an invitation from Degas to exhibit with the Impressionists in 1874. In a sense, it is this very fear of scandal that makes La Partie Carrée notable. Tissot's conservative and middle class perspective into a period notorious for its debauchery and frivolousness provides us with probably the most detailed and unique handling of this subject.
Having grown up around a father who was a linen draper and a mother who ran a successful millinery business, Tissot's vast knowledge of the fashions of the day and his comprehensive method of recording the period costumes is not surprising. In fact, Tissot was so preoccupied with elegant women and their elaborate dresses that his paintings not only provide extensive material for those who study costume, but reveal their narratives in greater detail through what appears initially as minutia or even as clutter. The sensuality of La Partie Carrée is immediately apparent in the fixed gaze of the woman on the viewer; she offers an invitation or even approves of the viewer's voyeurism. Yet, there is an underlying eroticism in this picture that is more subtlety communicated. Prior to the invention of the cage crinoline in 1856, a well-brought-up lady was supposed to have 'eight layers of refinement', or today one might call them simply eight layers of undergarments, which separated her from the outside world - her chemise, corset, corset-cover, crescent-shaped pad worn at the back of the waist and at least four petticoats. The very last layer usually trimmed with lace was the only layer that could be revoked to the public when climbing up the stairs or getting off a carriage. The display of any other undergarment along with exposed skin would suggest inappropriate behavior or an adventurously provocative woman. Tissot's lady in the striped brown gown not only displays plenty of her outer petticoats but also reveals her blue embroidered stockings. The pink rose placed carefully near her bosom intensifies the sensation of such risqué behavior. Traditionally, upon their first encounter, the woman was expected to place the flower that was delivered to her by her fiancé somewhere on her person. Her preference of position was an insinuation of her response to the previously unseen suitor. Particularly a placement of a rose near one's bosom signaled more than abundant attraction. In cases of extreme attraction, hiding the flower would have meant 'Find it!". Fans, handkerchiefs and parasols were also used for silent messaging between flirting couples. For example a wide-open fan meant 'wait for me' whereas a closed parasol meant 'I wish to speak to you'. In La Partie Carrée, both of these objects are carefully placed in the composition as if to give the viewer a better sense of the flirtatious narrative.
fig. 1. Edouard Manet, Dejeuner sur l'herbe, Musée D'Orsay, Paris