An exhibition of paintings that captures the contradictions of the Victorian era and the reality of women’s day-to-day lives is set to open this month at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Featuring three paintings and 34 works on paper, Tissot, Women and Time opens Dec. 20, offering a new perspective on the career of 19th-century French artist James Tissot (1836–1902), the AGO says.
A contemporary of the Impressionists in Paris, Tissot was one of many artists who focused on the theme of the modern woman in the 1870s and 1880s.
His detailed compositions are now studied for the insights they can provide on late 19th-century life, the gallery said in a release.
The AGO is home to the largest public collection of the French artist’s prints outside the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
Dating from 1870 to 1885, the paintings and prints presented in the upcoming exhibit depict women of various classes in a range of settings.
They symbolize the seasons, and their lives at home, at work and socializing in the bustling streets of London and Paris.
“The contradictions present in Tissot’s art reflect the era’s own duality about women — casting them simultaneously as sexual yet innocent, sickly yet seductive, timeless yet modern,” said guest curator Dr. Mary Hunter, an associate professor at McGill University.
“These images also describe how time — as both objectively calculated and subjectively felt — took on new significance in the later 19th century and was intimately linked to social status and location."
How these women are depicted spending their time would have provided 19th-century audiences with unspoken clues as to their class, Hunter says.
"Women portrayed with questionable men, for example, hint at sex work," she said.
The works on paper presented are drawn from the donation of 150 Tissot etchings and mezzotints gifted by Allan and Sondra Gotlieb in 1994 and 1995.
"The quickness of modernity, exemplified by steam trains, newspapers, fashion and commerce, comes to life in Tissot’s portraits of women in action, socializing in bustling cities, or quickly tending customers," the AGO said.
Tissot, Women and Time opens Friday, Dec. 20, at 5 p.m. for AGO members, and to annual pass holders and the public on Saturday, Dec. 21. Admission is free for all Ontarians under 25, Indigenous Peoples, AGO members and annual passholders. On view through June 29, 2025, same-day tickets can be booked in person and online at AGO.ca.
