Gustave Moreau was born in 1826 and was one of the most recognized Symbolist artists of his time. He studied under Chasseriau and was greatly influenced by the masters of the Romantic movement. Gustave Moreau appreciated the bizarre and random, but went past that to create a highly distinctive personal style. Gustave Moreau preferred mystically intense images that realted to ancient and unknown civilizations. Mythological figures were of great interest to Gustave Moreau and his paint almost paid hommage to these figures with it's jewel-like texture. Much of Gustave Moreau's life was spent in seclusion but he did become a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1892. He was an inspirational teacher who was able to bring out the individual talent of his students rather than set the guidelines for their personal expression. Gustave Moreau's pupils included Henri Matisse, Marquet, and his favorite Rouault. Most of Gustave Moreau's works are preserved at his home, now the Moreau Museum. Gustave Moreau died in 1898.
