Accession Number
2004/2.167

Title
A la fenetre

Artist(s)
James Jacques Joseph Tissot

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1875

Medium & Support
etching and drypoint on paper

Dimensions
7 1/2 in x 4 1/4 in (19.05 cm x 10.8 cm);13 1/8 in x 8 11/16 in (33.34 cm x 22.07 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Aldrich

Subject matter
This print was included in Tissot's early portfolio of prints, Ten Etchings (1875). The image is not meant to depict a specific woman, but, like much of Tissot's work, it instead suggests a mood and allows the viewer to create a narrative. No related painting is known.

Scholars have suggested that the conception of this image, such as the placement of the figure so close to the picture plane as well as the unconventional cropping, reflects the growing influence of Japanese art on Tissot's work.

Physical Description
A woman is shown standing in three-quarter profile and at three-quarter length. She wears a massive ornamented hat, and a light-colored day dress with bundled dark tulle at the neck. She raises her right hand to her cheek, and rests her left hand, which carries a folded fan, on her right hip. Her amused expression is illuminated by the light from a large paned window behind her, which takes up the whole of the background but does not reveal anything on the other side of the glass. 
Signed and dated, upper right, in the image and on the plate: "JJ Tissot / 1857"

Primary Object Classification
Print

Primary Object Type
intaglio 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
costume (mode of fashion)
drypoint (printing process)
etching (printing process)
fans (costume accessories)
genre (visual works)
hats
original prints
windows
women (female humans)