Gustave Moreau

French painter

• Born: April 6, 1826
• Place of Birth: Place of birth: Paris, France
• Died: April 18, 1898
• Place of Death: Place of death: Paris, France

Education: Collège Rollin; École Royale des Beaux-Arts

Significance: Gustave Moreau was an important painter in the romantic and symbolist traditions. He drew upon ancient tales and vivid imaginings to create fantastic and highly interpretive paintings. His works and teachings inspired many other artists.

Background

Gustave Moreau was born on April 6, 1826, to a wealthy family in Paris, France. His parents, architect Louis-Jean Marie Moreau and Adèle Pauline Desmoutier, were very attentive to his needs and interests and sought to educate him in classical culture and art. Moreau, a sickly and solitary child, developed a love of visual arts and sketched and drew regularly during his youth.

He attended secondary school at the Collège Rollin in Paris. There, he won a prize for his drawings in 1839, but he left the school shortly thereafter due to health problems. In 1841, Moreau traveled to northern Italy with his mother, aunt, and uncle. While there, he filled a sketchbook with the images he saw.

Moreau’s passion for art only increased by 1844, when he began to visit the Paris studio of François-Édouard Picot, whose paintings of historic and allegorical scenes graced many of the city’s landmark buildings and monuments. With Picot’s help, Moreau learned the skills necessary to secure admission to the prestigious École Royale des Beaux-Arts (National School of Fine Arts) in 1846. There, he continued to study with Picot and other experienced artists. After two unsuccessful attempts to win the Prix de Rome art scholarship, he left the school to start his career in 1849.

Life’s Work

After leaving the École Royale des Beaux-Arts, Moreau worked on several government-commissioned projects and produced copies of works for the Musée du Louvre. More importantly, he met another young artist, Théodore Chassériau, who became one of his best friends and inspirations. Moreau rented a studio next to Chassériau and the two remained close friends until the latter’s death in 1856. Chassériau’s work, full of mysterious dreamlike scenes and beautiful women, reflected exotic and romantic themes that strongly appealed to Moreau’s sensibilities.

In the mid-1800s, most artists were embracing naturalism and other styles that sought to capture accurate details, disregarding the importance of feeling and interpretation in art. Moreau leaned strongly in the opposite direction, filling canvases with emotionally charged, often fantastic, sometimes bizarre scenes from myth and imagination. He often populated these works with strong, imposing female figures and accented his imagery with bright colors and abstract designs.

Moreau began showing original works at the Salon, the grand art exhibition held in Paris, in 1852. The following year, he exhibited Song of Songs and Death of Darius. In 1855, he submitted Moses Putting off his Sandals within Sight of the Promised Land and Athenians with the Minotaur. These works ranged from imaginative interpretations of biblical and other religious texts to expressive scenes from ancient myths.

In 1857, Moreau returned to Italy for an extended stay. During his time there, he studied the works of many Old Masters including Vittore Carpaccio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Raphael, and Michelangelo. He was also exposed to Byzantine art, highly stylized and symbolic religious imagery. Meeting other young artists such as Edgar Degas, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Bernard-Henri Lévy, and Léon Bonnat further broadened his artistic horizons.

The lessons Moreau learned in Italy would strongly influence his art for the rest of his career. In 1864, he explored ancient legends in Oedipus and the Sphinx, which he exhibited at the Salon. The following year, after unveiling The Young Man and Death and Jason and Medea, Moreau was invited to meet an admiring Emperor Napoleon III. In 1866, Moreau debuted three paintings, and in 1869, he presented Prometheus and Abduction of Europa. Although he won an award, he was hurt by critics’ assessments and avoided the Salon for several years. Upon returning in 1876, he presented a number of works including Salome Dancing and The Apparition. In 1880, at his final Salon, he presented Helen and Galatea.

In 1886, Moreau finished a polyptych, a painting done on numerous folding panels, called The Life of Humanity. He was invited to display this ambitious work at the Galerie Goupil in Paris, his only solo exhibition. Two years later, in 1888, Moreau became a member of the prestigious art society known as the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and in 1892, he became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. There, he taught and influenced such burgeoning artistic minds as Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet, Georges Rouault, and Henri Charles Manguin. After class, he allowed students to continue their studies at his studio.

Moreau did not stop painting. Wounded by the deaths of his parents and his friend Alexandrine Dureux, he painted the mournful Orpheus at the Tomb of Eurydice. In 1895, as he neared the end of his own life, Moreau created a final masterpiece, Jupiter and Semele. He then made arrangements to have his home converted into a state museum to house and display his 8,000 works of art. This plan went into effect upon his death on April 18, 1898. The Musée National Gustave Moreau remained in operation in Paris into the twenty-first century.

Impact

Gustave Moreau was a prolific and successful painter whose works defied mainstream expectations. Moreau’s fascination with ancient tales, strong emotions, and dreamlike symbolism won him many admirers in the visual as well as literary arts. He helped connect romantic art traditions to later schools, most notably the symbolists who favored the use of imagination in art, and inspired a generation of new artists through his teachings.

Personal Life

For his contributions to French culture, Gustave Moreau was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor (Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur) in 1875. In 1883, he became an Officer of the Legion of Honor (Officier de la Légion d’Honneur).

Bibliography

"Biography of Gustave Moreau." Musée National Gustave Moreau, musee-moreau.fr/en/biography-gustave-moreau. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

Clement, Russell T. Four French Symbolists: A Sourcebook on Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, and Maurice Denis. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996, pp. 150–158. Print.

"Gustave Moreau." Art Renewal Center (ARC), www.artrenewal.org/artists/gustave-moreau/78. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

"Gustave Moreau." The J. Paul Getty Museum, www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/103JT8. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

"Gustave Moreau." The National Gallery, 2024, www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/gustave-moreau. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.