Gustave Moreau

Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) is a painter who represents French Symbolism. He was born and died in Paris. He is known for his fantastical style of painting that takes inspiration from the Bible and mythology.

Gustave Moreau Biography

• Born April 6, 1826 in Paris, France
• Studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and later studied in Italy
• From the late 1850s onwards, he exhibited at the Salon de Paris.
• In 1891, he became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts.
• Died in Paris on April 18, 1898 (aged 72)

Representative works

• Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864)
• L'Apparition (1874-1876)
• Salome (1876)
• Jupiter and Semele (1895)

Moreau's style and achievements

Moreau was active at roughly the same time as the Impressionist painters, but he walked his own path. He produced many works that made full use of his imagination and fantasy, using the Bible and Greek mythology as their subject matter . His works are characterized by detailed depictions, vivid colors, and a mysterious atmosphere.

His representative work, "Oedipus and the Sphinx," depicts a scene from Greek mythology with dramatic composition and detailed depiction, while "Apparitions" depicts in vivid colors the fantastical scene in which the head of John the Baptist appears before Salome .

Although Moreau was not necessarily highly acclaimed during his lifetime, after his death his unique works were reevaluated and he became widely recognized as a representative painter of Symbolism and as an artist who influenced later Surrealism .