Gustave MoreauFrench, 1826–1898Étude de serpent
May one see it?
Unknown
Musée Gustave-Moreau
Paris, France
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- Des. 9200
Meanwhile, in the life of Gustave Moreau
The whole life1846–1849 · Education
Beaux-Arts de Paris
1852
Salon debut: the state buys his “Pietà”
In 1852 Moreau took part in the Paris Salon for the first time, presenting a Pietà that the state bought for 600 francs. From the 1850s he exhibited with some regularity and, with his father’s help, secured commissions from the city.
1864
A Salon medal for “Oedipus and the Sphinx”
“Oedipus and the Sphinx”, one of Moreau’s first Symbolist paintings, won a medal at the Paris Salon of 1864 and established his reputation. One commentator likened it to a pastiche of Mantegna created by a German student who relaxes from his painting by reading Schopenhauer.
1876
Return to the Salon: “Salome”
After the break Moreau returned to the Salon. That year he completed “Salome Dancing before Herod”, which announced the more painterly style that would characterize his later works.
1895
Turns his townhouse into a museum
After finishing “Jupiter and Semele” Moreau began his last great project, a museum in his own townhouse, to make his art accessible to all and to ensure it would be preserved for future generations. He sold few works in his lifetime: only three were bought by French museums and none by foreign ones.
18 April 1898
