The Ball on Shipboard
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| The Ball on Shipboard | |
|---|---|
_-_The_Ball_on_Shipboard_-_N04892_-_National_Gallery.jpg) | |
| Artist | James Tissot |
| Year | 1874 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, genre painting |
| Dimensions | 129.5 cm × 84.1 cm (51.0 in × 33.1 in) |
| Location | Tate Britain, London |
The Ball on Shipboard is an 1874 oil painting by the French artist James Tissot.[1] [2] It shows a scene on the deck of a ship, festooned with flags during regatta held off the Isle of Wight. A Ball is in progress featuring members of high society. Although Tissot drew on the idea of fashionable gatherings on the Royal yacht, the lady by the rail in the straw hat is not Alexandra, Princess of Wales as was once believed.[3]
Tissot had settled in London following the Franco-Prussian War. The picture was displayed at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1874 held at Burlington House in Piccadilly, one of three works Tissot displayed. It was one time in the possession of Alfred Munnings. Today the painting is in the collection of the Tate Britain in Pimlico, having been acquired via the Chantrey Bequest in 1937.[4]
