Provenance
Owned equally by 1956 by J.R. Ormrod, Esq., Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, England, (M. Newman Ltd.) and (P. Polak Ltd.). (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 22 February 1957, no. 43); Fine Art Society. (sale, Sotheby's, London, 20 March 1963, no. 140); Mrs. C. Behr, London, until at least 1967. Julian Spiro, Esq.; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 15 October 1976, no. 43); (Herman Shickman Gallery, New York);[1] sold 24 May 1978 to NGA.
[1] The provenance was provided by Christopher Wood in letter of 22 June 1978 to David Rust, in NGA curatorial files. Willard E. Misfeldt saw the painting in 1967 when it was in Mrs. Behr's possession (letter of 12 June 1978 to David Rust, in NGA curatorial files).
Accession Number
1978.47.1
Medium
oil on wood
Dimensions
overall: 73.4 x 53.9 cm (28 7/8 x 21 1/4 in.) | framed: 93.3 x 74.3 cm (36 3/4 x 29 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Chester Dale Fund
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting French
Background & Context
Background Story
James Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902) was a French painter known for his precisely detailed scenes of fashionable society in London and Paris that combine the social observation of the genre painter with the technical precision of the academic tradition. Hide and Seek from c. 1877 depicts a game of hide-and-seek in a London interior in the precisely detailed, socially observant manner that distinguishes Tissot's best work. The c. 1877 date places this in Tissot's London period, when he was producing the scenes of fashionable London society that are his most accomplished works, and the hide-and-seek subject allows him to exercise his talent for combining social observation with the domestic interior that is his most characteristic setting.
Cultural Impact
Hide and Seek is important in Tissot's oeuvre because it demonstrates the precisely detailed, socially observant manner that distinguishes his best London scenes. The hide-and-seek subject allows Tissot to combine the social observation of his genre painting with the domestic interior that is his most characteristic setting, creating a painting that is simultaneously a genre subject and a document of fashionable London society in the 1870s.
Why It Matters
Hide and Seek is Tissot's fashionable London society with genre charm: a game of hide-and-seek in a domestic interior rendered with the precise detail and social observation that distinguish his best work. The c. 1877 painting shows Tissot combining genre subject with fashionable London society in his most characteristic setting.
