Octave Tassaert
Encyclopedia
Octave Tassaert was a French painter of portraits and genre, religious, historical and allegorical paintings, as well as a lithographer and engraver, though this family was of Flemish origin. He was the grandson of the sculptor Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert
.
(1765-c. 1835) and his older brother Paul (?-1855), before he was apprenticed to the engraver Alexis-François Girard (1787-1870). Next he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts
(1817-25) from 1817 through 1825, under Guillaume Guillon-Lethière
, but never won the school's Prix de Rome
. Winning popular but not critical success, his works showing poor people's lives were felt melodramatic by critics but acclaimed by the public. His submission to the 1855 World Exhibition was well received by the critics, but Octave ceased to exhibit after the 1857 Salon, withdrawing more and more from the formal art world. Collectors of his works included Alfred Bruyas
and Alexandre Dumas, fils
, but in 1863 Octave stopped painting altogether and tried to become a poet (though none of his works are extant), selling all his remaining paintings to the dealer Père Martin. He declined into alcoholism, damaging his eyesight (he was treated at Montpellier in 1865, during which time he stayed with Bruyas) and finally committing suicide in 1874.
Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert
Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert was a minor sculptor of Flemish extraction, who worked in the manner of Falconnet. He went to Paris as a young man to work in the atelier of Michel-Ange Slodtz, a member of a dynasty of designer-sculptors working for the royal account. After Slodtz's death in 1764, he...
.
Life
Octave's first artistic training came from his father Jean-Joseph-François TassaertJean-Joseph-François Tassaert
Jean-Joseph-François Tassaert was a French painter and engraver. He was the son of Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert, who also taught him, and the father and teacher of Octave Tassaert.- Works :...
(1765-c. 1835) and his older brother Paul (?-1855), before he was apprenticed to the engraver Alexis-François Girard (1787-1870). Next he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
(1817-25) from 1817 through 1825, under Guillaume Guillon-Lethière
Guillaume Guillon-Lethière
Guillaume Guillon Lethière was a French neoclassical painter.Born in Guadeloupe in 1760 to a French colonial official named Pierre Guillon and a disenfranchised "mulatto" mother, Lethière has been often written about in the context of French colonial history and the French Revolution.At 14 years...
, but never won the school's Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
. Winning popular but not critical success, his works showing poor people's lives were felt melodramatic by critics but acclaimed by the public. His submission to the 1855 World Exhibition was well received by the critics, but Octave ceased to exhibit after the 1857 Salon, withdrawing more and more from the formal art world. Collectors of his works included Alfred Bruyas
Alfred Bruyas
Alfred Bruyas was an art collector and a personal friend of many important artists of his time, among them Gustave Courbet. He donated his collection to the Musée Fabre, in Montpellier....
and Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.-Biography:...
, but in 1863 Octave stopped painting altogether and tried to become a poet (though none of his works are extant), selling all his remaining paintings to the dealer Père Martin. He declined into alcoholism, damaging his eyesight (he was treated at Montpellier in 1865, during which time he stayed with Bruyas) and finally committing suicide in 1874.
Selected works
- The Death of Correggio, 1834 Paris SalonParis SalonThe Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
- Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia - purchased by Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, and thus Octave's first success - Une famille malheureuse, 1849 - Musée d'Orsay
- The Waif (L'abandonnée), 1852 - National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- Heaven and Hell, 1850 - Cleveland Museum of ArtCleveland Museum of ArtThe Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
- The Bourgeois' Kitchen, 1854 - Cleveland Museum of Art
External links
- http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/tassaert_octave.html
- http://www.clevelandart.org/explore/artist.asp?creatorid=503&recNo=0&bio=full&display=