Two Figures at a Door, The Proposal by J. Tissot Tissue Paper

James Tissot - Two Figures at a Door, The Proposal, 1872. Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902), better known as James Tissot was a French painter, illustrator, and caricaturist. He was born to a drapery merchant and a milliner and decided to pursue a career in art at a young age, coming to incorporate elements of realism, early Impressionism, and academic art into his work. The scene apparently depicts a couple just after the man has proposed marriage and is waiting for a reply. The door may have a symbolic meaning: will she let him cross the "threshold" into her life, or leave him waiting outside? During this moment of suspense, attention is drawn to the sumptuous dress, the intense natural light, and the artist’s fascination with the sophisticated fashions of the new, urban, middle-class.