James Jacques Joseph TissotFrench, 1836–1902A Winter's Walk
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “A Winter's Walk” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
The model for James Tissot's monument to Victorian beauty was his own love, the divorcée Kathleen Newton. She appeared in several of his paintings and prints before dying of tuberculosis in 1882, and she was already quite ill when this etching was made. Tissot was so proud of this work that he signed it, an honor he reserved only for superior prints. Distraught after Newton's death, he abandoned his lucrative career of etching London's high society and returned to Paris. This was despite the hopeful verse he appended to A Winter's Walk, suggesting Newton's beauty would live on to cancel out the bleakness of winter.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Details
- Accession number
- P.3, 320
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain
In the life of James Jacques Joseph Tissot
The whole life1871–1882 · Workplace
London
c. 1880 – 1881
Kathleen falls ill with tuberculosis
Around 1880–1881 Kathleen contracted tuberculosis, and Tissot painted her sitting well wrapped outdoors, as fresh air was thought to cure. In 1877–1881 he had painted travels along the Thames, to the south coast and to Paris, but more often Kathleen reading in the garden or surrounded by children.
9 November 1882
Death of Kathleen Newton
On 9 November 1882 Kathleen Newton died in Tissot's arms, “with the ardent faith of a neophyte and the silent resignation of a saint”. Other accounts say the 28-year-old took her own life, worn out by late-stage tuberculosis. After her death Tissot returned to Paris.
