Gustave Moreau Biography

Gustave Moreau

(Paris, 1826-id., 1898) French painter.In 1857 he made a trip to Italy that allowed him to learn about the work of classics such as Michelangelo Buonarroti or Andrea Mantegna, and obtained critical recognition at the 1864 Salon, with Oedipus and the Sphinx .His period of maturity began in 1870.His work shows a clear preference for historical, biblical and mythological themes, always developed in a disturbing and evocative way, through the recreation of exotic, often oriental atmospheres, and drama of the scenes.Its particular sense of color also stands out, especially striking for its golden sheen.Among his paintings, it is worth highlighting, among others, The Apparition (1876), Chimera (1884) and Jupiter and Semele (1896).Belonging to the symbolist current, Moreau inspired future surrealist artists, especially André Breton, Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí.His work is exhibited in his Parisian mansion, which in 1902 became the Gustave Moreau Museum.

Gustave Moreau (detail of a Self-portrait of 1850)

The work of Gustave Moreau is one of the most important antecedents of the turn of the century decadence.Fascinated by the legendary and the divine, he was bored with the drawing of life and the faithful description of nature.Based on the sacred scriptures and mythology, he developed an ambitious work that, far from the prevailing academicism, proposed a poetics of suggestion and ambiguity.

His first success was Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864, Metropolitan Museum, New York), a work in which he exposes his conception of the artist as a hero faced with a fatal destiny, the which is none other than the misunderstanding on the part of the crowd.Moreau's interpretation of the Greek myth of Oedipus and the Sphinx is inspired by the work of the same name by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, dating from 1808.Both painters chose the moment when Oedipus confronts him the monster on a rocky pass on the outskirts of Thebes; Unlike his other victims, Oedipus was able to solve the enigma and save himself and the Thebans.The canvas had an excellent reception at the Salon of 1864; won a medal and confirmed Moreau's reputation.

Detail of Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864)

Almost all his works have a good number of previous studies, because his work process consisted of making sketches of the natural that he later used in the study to make his great compositions.These were increasingly complex, encompassing heterogeneous elements, destined to create a sensual and mythical atmosphere at the same time: the story and the biblical account converge in them in a suggestive way.Regarding the meticulous finishing of paintings such as The unicorns (1852-1898) and Jupiter and Semele (1896), both in the Moreau Museum in Paris, it has been described as skilled goldsmith or miniaturist.

Moreau exalts the hero by placing him in sumptuous settings where architectural details have organic life. The apparition (1876, Gustave Moreau Museum), represents the culmination of the painter's style, precious and somewhat morbid in expression and themes.The painting presents the biblical story of Salome and Saint John the Baptist in a disturbing way: the Baptist's head has risen from the tray and, surrounded by a halo, he directs his disquieting gaze to Salomé, who with a gesture of horror rejects the horrendous vision.

In contrast to the solitary life he had led throughout his life, Moreau was appointed in 1892 professor of painting at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, where he was highly appreciated by artists such as Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault.Obsessed with posthumous fame, he bequeathed his immense workshop and the works it contained to the French state, its first curator being Georges Rouault.Despite this, his work seemed destined to be forgotten, until the Surrealists became interested in the complexity of his compositions.