Tissot, James (1836-1902)
Hush!
1875
Oil on canvas, 73.7 x 112.2 cm
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
Modern life was the central theme of Tissot‘s art, with a focus on bourgeois social behaviour. His genre pieces typically dwelt on social nicety, flattering viewers who were sufficiently well-versed in etiquette to decipher their moral code. Tissot lived in London from 1871 to 1882. Hush! purportedly depicts a musical soirée in the smart London home of the Coopes in 1873, at which the violinist was Madame Wilma Neruda (Lady Hallé, through her marriage to Charles Hallé, who was knighted in 1888, the year of their marriage). According to a contemporary account, Tissot was barred from taking portraits of the guests, so professional models were used for the figures. His interest in decor, fashion and polite behaviour echoes the content of contemporary magazines, such as Vanity Fair. Here, he depicts the moment before the start of a concert, when the audience is still settling down. Fans flicker, satins rustle, people are whispering, with figures caught mid-action and even cut off, showing the influence both of the recent invention of photography and of Japanese art, which was especially popular in Paris in the last quarter of the 19th century. The costumes give an extremely accurate picture of fashionable dress. (MCAG)