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About the Artwork
This painting depicts a woman reclining upon an upholstered couch on a summer day while light filters through a partially closed awning that provides a glimpse of a beach in the background. James Tissot’s mature works from this time were more likely to convey a mood—here of a languid summer afternoon—than a specific narrative. The model for this painting was Kathleen Newton, born Kathleen Ashburnham Kelly (1854–1882), the artist’s lover from 1876 until her untimely death from tuberculosis at the age of 28.
Inscriptions
Signed upper left in window sash: J. J. Tissot
Provenance
1879: (Knoedler & Co., New York, NY, May 31,1879, acquired form the artist). 1879: Arrived in New York via Jos. Bulla, Paris, July 14, 1879, Femme au sofa (stock number 1645). 1879: (Knoedler, New York, NY, October 4, 1879, sold to Henry Hilton, as Summer-days) 1900: (American Art Galleries, New York, NY, Hilton Collection sale, February 13-16 February 1900 (lot 74), sold to Edward Brandus) 1971-1972: (W. Postar, Boston, MA, sold to Herbert Schwarz) 1972: Herbert Schwarz, Montreal 1972: (Sotheby's, Los Angeles, CA, Parke-Bernet, May 22-23, 1972, lot 260, Jeune femme assise with unsustainable provenance) 1972: (Williams & Son, London, United Kingdom, May 1972) 1972: Clarence Frisbee, London, October 1972. 1975: (Christie's, London, United Kingdom, July 25, 1975, lot 115) 1975-1980: Mr. Noah L. Butkin [1918-1980] Shaker Heights, OH, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1980-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991). James Tissot. Victorian Life/Modern Love. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT (September 22-November 28, 1999); Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec City, Canada (December 15, 1999-March 12, 2000); Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY (March 24-July 2, 2000). Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009). Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France (September 25, 2012-January 12, 2013); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (February 19-May 27, 2013); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (June 29-September 29, 2013).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- James Tissot (French, 1836–1902)
- Date
- 1878
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- Framed: 112.1 x 85.4 x 6.4 cm (44 1/8 x 33 5/8 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 87.5 x 61 cm (34 7/16 x 24 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Bequest of Noah L. Butkin
- Accession no.
- 1980.288
More by James Tissot in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009230
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