Accession Number
2004/2.164

Title
La convalescente, cancelled proof

Artist(s)
James Jacques Joseph Tissot

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1875

Medium & Support
etching and drypoint on paper

Dimensions
8 3/4 in x 6 7/16 in (22.23 cm x 16.35 cm);12 1/4 in x 9 3/4 in (31.12 cm x 24.77 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Aldrich

Subject matter
This is the first print that Tissot published and, unlike many of his other prints, no related painting is known. He would go on to exhibit the print somewhat regularly over the course of his career. The subject is loosely generic, as indicated by the title; this is not meant to be a specific woman (that is, a portrait), but rather, a woman who we might think of as a character in a narrative in which a well-off young woman recovers from illness.

This is an example of an impression pulled after the original edition of 100 proofs was complete; artists would then "cancel" the plate by etching deep slashes into it. This protected the value of the 100 "official" proofs, though in actuality editions were often smaller or larger.

Physical Description
A woman wearing a black hat reclines in a sketchily-rendered chair. Shown in a three-quarter view and angled towards the viewer's left, she sits quietly, looking straight ahead. She wears a fur-trimmed coat, and flexes her right hand, which is curled into a loose fist, upwards. The background is left blank.  The entire image is covered with a series of heavy diagonal slashes. 
Signed in the lower left of the composition, in the plate, "JTJ [the second J rendered backwards] / J.J. tissot"

Primary Object Classification
Print

Primary Object Type
intaglio print

Additional Object Classification(s)
Print

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
cancellation proofs
costume (mode of fashion)
drypoint (printing process)
etching (printing process)
fur stoles
genre (visual works)
hats
ill (people)
illness
original prints
women (female humans)