Jacques James Joseph Tissot. 1836-1902.
Printemps (Spring). 1878. Etching and drypoint. Tissot 30, Béraldi 27, Wentworth 34. 15 5/8 x 6 (sheet 24 x 10 1/8). Edition about 100. Slight mat stain; otherwise fine condition. A rich impression printed on cream 'Van Gelder Zonen' laid paper, onthe full sheet with deckle edges. Signed in the plate, upper right. Housed in a gold-leaf Whistler-type frame with a silk mat (Frame size 31 1/2 x 18). $7,500.
Kathleen Newton, the artist's muse, wearing a ruffled muslin dress, is framed by flowering apple blossoms and rhodedendrons.
Wentworth writes: "In the late 1870's, Tissot experimented with the tall, narrow format of the Japanese hashira-e prints designed for display on the pillars of houses, and in works like Printemps and Au bord de la mer (No. 47), he comes close to the extreme attentuation of his models...." (page 154).