Lust for Gold

1838

His debut at the Paris Salon

In 1838, a year after the Prix de Rome, Couture is shown at the Paris Salon for the first time, with a canvas depicting a Venetian woman after a night orgy.

1847

The Salon of 1847: the triumph of “The Romans of the Decadence”

The picture meets with a resounding success and recognition: Théophile Gautier calls it the most remarkable work of the exhibition. Many find it symbolic that in the hall it takes the usual place of Veronese’s “The Wedding at Cana”, and some opinions favour the French canvas over the Italian classic.

after 1847

Opens an independent atelier in Paris

Soon after this triumph, in the wake of which he called himself the only truly serious artist of his age, Couture opens an independent atelier on the streets of Laval and Pigalle in Paris. It is conceived as a rival to the École des Beaux-Arts: several dozen pupils study there, among them students from the USA and Germany, and Couture wants to train not geniuses but painters who know their craft, demanding individuality from them rather than imitation.

January 1850

Manet becomes his pupil

From January 1850 Couture teaches Édouard Manet for more than six years. In the end Manet broke with his teacher and with academism and became one of the founders of Impressionism.

1855

The 1855 World’s Fair: “The Falconer” misses the top award

At the 1855 World’s Fair Couture shows the picture “The Falconer”, but it does not win the highest award, which he regards as a major setback. As a result he renounces the first-class medal awarded to him for this picture and for “The Romans of the Decadence”.

29. marts 1879

Died