To cite this article: Paquette, Lucy. A Closer Look at Tissot’s “Algernon Moses Marsden”. The Hammock. https://thehammocknovel.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/a-closer-look-at-tissots-algernon-moses-marsden/. <Date viewed.>
I recently had the rare opportunity to see James Tissot’s Algernon Moses Marsden, one of three of his oil paintings on temporary loan to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford from a private collection. My thanks to the gentleman on Twitter who kindly drew my attention to this.
James Tissot painted Algernon Moses Marsden’s portrait in 1877, and it remained in the Marsden family for nearly a century. It’s a compelling image; Marsden, at age 30, appears sophisticated and well-to-do. Unfortunately, he was a complete cad. He was Tissot’s art dealer for a short time in the mid-1870s, and the setting of the portrait is the elegant new studio of Tissot’s home in St. John’s Wood [not Marsden’s study, as it formerly was identified].
Marsden was a witty and engaging gambler, bankrupt and rogue who foisted his debts on his father and deserted his wife and ten children. When his father died in 1884, he disinherited his son but provided legacies for his abandoned family members. In 1901, bankrupt for at least the third time, Algernon, at age 54, fled to the United States with another woman.
He was bankrupt again in 1912, and he died eight years later in upstate New York. His tombstone in Mt. Hope Cemetery (Section S) in Rochester, New York, is inscribed: “MARSDEN Algernon Moses of London, Eng.; d Jan 23, 1920 æ 72y” [at the age of 72 years].
Tissot’s portrait, which captures the man in his moment of youth and apparent success, was sold at Sotheby’s, London in 1971 for $4,838/£2,000. In 1983, it was sold at Christie’s, London for $65,677/£45,000. [Hammer prices.]
During my visit to the Ashmolean, I was alone in the gallery with this portrait for some time, and Algernon Moses Marsden is eerily alive. A highly-educated professional woman I encountered at the museum told me he made her “swoon.”
Enjoy these close-up photographs of the man and that tiger skin – which Tissot uses to provide visual interest to the otherwise plain leather armchair, but which also functions as a startling emblem of Marsden’s virility: through Tissot, we see Algernon Moses Marsden the way he saw himself.
(And yes, the blue dots are reflections on the glass.)
© 2018 Lucy Paquette. All rights reserved.
The articles published on this blog are copyrighted by Lucy Paquette. An article or any portion of it may not be reproduced in any medium or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, without the author’s permission. You are welcome to cite or quote from an article provided you give full acknowledgement to the author.
Related Posts:
A Closer Look at Tissot’s “Quarrelling”
Who was Algernon Moses Marsden?
Tissot’s Tiger Skin: A Prominent Prop
The Hammock: A novel based on the true story of French painter James Tissot, brings Tissot’s world from 1870 to 1879 alive in a story of war, art, Society glamour, love, scandal, and tragedy.
Illustrated with 17 stunning, high-resolution fine art images in full color
Courtesy of The Bridgeman Art Library
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See http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009P5RYVE.
NOTE: If you do not have a Kindle e-reader, you may download free Kindle reading apps for PCs, Smartphones, tablets, and the Kindle Cloud Reader to read The Hammock: A novel based on the true story of French painter James Tissot. Read reviews.
Exhibition note:
“The EY Exhibition: Impressionists in London, French Artists in Exile (1870 – 1904),” November 2, 2017 – May 7, 2018.
Curator, Dr. Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, Assistant Curator 1850-1915
Tate Britain
And see “James Tissot, the Englishman,” by Cyrille Sciama, Curator of the 19th century collections at the Musée d’arts de Nantes, in the exhibition catalogue.
The Hammock 