Still on Top
James Tissot·1873
Historical Context
Still on Top of 1873, in the Auckland Art Gallery, is one of Tissot's Thames series paintings from his London period, depicting a woman — likely the same model used repeatedly in this series — in a river setting. The title carries a note of social competition and triumph that is typical of Tissot's awareness of the competitive dimension of fashionable life. After fleeing Paris in 1871, Tissot settled in St John's Wood and became the most fashionable painter of London high society, celebrated for his precisely observed depictions of elegant women in outdoor settings. His model and companion Kathleen Newton, who would later dominate many of his most intimate works, may or may not appear here — the dating suggests an earlier phase. Auckland's collection reflects the broad reach of Victorian British painting into the Anglophone world.
Technical Analysis
Oil on canvas, the painting uses the characteristic Thames setting of water, sky, and fashionable figures that Tissot developed into a consistent series. His handling of light on water and the reflective surfaces of a river scene is technically accomplished, and the woman's costume is rendered with the precise attention to fabric and fashion that made his work so popular.
Look Closer
- ◆The figure's confident bearing and positioning justify the title — she is at ease and authoritative in the social space she occupies.
- ◆The Thames setting blends natural landscape with the signifiers of fashionable leisure — boats, promenade dress, river scenery.
- ◆Tissot renders the sitter's dress and accessories with the precision of a fashion illustrator operating at the level of fine art.
- ◆Water reflections in the background add a shimmering quality to the scene that photographs of the period could not capture.
