Accession Number
2011/2.206

Title
La Mystérieuse

Artist(s)
James Jacques Joseph Tissot

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1885

Medium & Support
etching and drypoint on laid paper

Dimensions
22 1/16 in x 14 1/2 in (56.04 cm x 36.83 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink

Label copy
James Jacques Joseph Tissot
France, 1836–1902
La mystérieuse (The mysterious woman)
1885
Etching and drypoint on laid paper
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink, 2011/2.206

Subject matter
This print depicts a fashionable Parisienne with two frisky dogs walking on a tree-lined path, perhaps accompanied by her footman who follows at some distance behind her. The vertical framing of trees and the dramatic recession of space emphasizes the elongation of the woman's body and the sense of claustrophia produced by the wooded space. The inclusion of two women at the far end of the path, one of whom wears a nun's habit and carries a footstool, raises more questions than it answers. When Tissot exhibited a related oil painting of this subject, the accompanying catalogue posed a number of questions about the main figure's identity, such as "What is her history? Is she a great lady?" In the context of the title of this picture--"the mysterious one"--Tissot seems to be commenting on the experience of modern urban life, where one might pass a stranger on the streets and wonder about her.

Physical Description
An etching of a woman in a black dress with two small dogs walking on a tree-lined path. Behind her follows a man in a top hat and two other women, one of whom wears a nun's habit.

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
Canis familiaris (species)
costume accessories
leisure
nuns
pedestrians
pets (domestic animals)
trees
walking
woods (plant communities)