Still on Top - portrait

A garden decked out for a celebration comes to life in this 1878 painting by James Tissot. A young woman in a bold black and white striped dress stretches upward to secure a flurry of colorful flags, while a companion in a white bonnet kneels among the fabric below, and a bearded sailor in a red cap sorts through the tangle of banners. The title, "Still on Top," works on two levels, pointing to the highest flag being raised and to the small sense of victory in finishing a fiddly job.

Tissot was a French artist who built much of his reputation in London, where he became known for his sharp, elegant scenes of Victorian society. His talent for painting cloth shows everywhere here, from the crisp ruffles of the woman's gown to the scattered Union Jacks spilling across the ground in reds, blues, and golds. The leafy setting is thought to be the garden of his own home in St John's Wood, a spot that turns up again and again across his work.

The pleasure of this picture lies in its ordinariness. Instead of a grand ceremony, Tissot chose a modest task and the busy little moment surrounding it, then dressed it in warm sunlight and bright bursts of color. The result turns a routine afternoon into something quietly festive.