Saint George and the Dragon

1859–1888 · Virkested

Paris

1880

His last exhibition: “Helen” and “Galatea”

In 1880 Moreau took part in an exhibition for the last time, showing “Helen at the Walls of Troy”, in which the woman appears as a depraved creature guilty of war and the death of men, and “Galatea”, whose heroine is an object of desire on which the huge eye of the cyclops in love is vainly fixed.

1881

The Fables watercolours at the Cercle des Aquarellistes

In 1881 all the commissioned works were exhibited together at the Cercle des Aquarellistes in Paris. The critics celebrated the show: Moreau’s work (he completed 25 pieces, more than anyone else) was judged far superior to most of the others, and he alone was commissioned to continue the series.

1886

His only private show, at the Goupil Gallery

In 1886 the only private show of Moreau’s life was held at the Goupil & Cie Gallery in Paris, where Théo van Gogh was manager: 64 La Fontaine fables with six other large watercolours. It was later shown in London.

28 March 1890

The death of Alexandrine Dureux

Alexandrine Dureux died on 28 March 1890 after five months of deteriorating health, and Moreau was at her bedside. He bought back from her heirs the watercolours he had given her and some furniture, placing them in a room of his house in her memory, and designed her tombstone himself, engraved with their interlaced initials. Both deaths reinforced his isolation, and his work took on an even greater melancholic edge.

October 1891 – January 1892

Takes over Delaunay’s studio at the École des Beaux-Arts

On his deathbed Élie Delaunay asked Moreau to succeed him and direct one of the school’s main ateliers. Moreau reluctantly took the class on a temporary basis in October 1891, but in January 1892, at the age of sixty-five, he accepted the appointment of professor and atelier director.