06.04.1826 – 18.04.1898

April 6, 1826 in the family of a Parisian architect was born Gustav Moreau, a French painter and graphic artist.

His private life was so closed from others, the circle of communication is limited only to the closest people, that Moro’s name is shrouded in an atmosphere of mystery to this day.

The artist was educated at the School of Fine Arts, where he entered in 1846, however, considering it inadequate, he lived for about 2 years in Italy, copying the paintings of old masters.

In the fall of 1859, Moro returned home and met a young woman, Alexandrina Dyure, who worked as a governess near his workshop. Despite the artist’s categorical refusal to marry, they will not live together more than 30 years. After the death of Alexandrina in 1890, the artist devotes one of his best paintings to the beloved – Orpheus at the Tomb of Eurydice.

Gustav Moreau preferred mythological and religious subjects, his works are full of details and full of allegories. Painting Moro enjoyed success among his contemporaries, critics call him “savior of historical painting.” The last romanticist of the nineteenth century, he sharply rejected his allegiance to symbolism, and, being an inveterate conservative, Moreau had a great development of new artistic trends and trends. His work became the forerunner of modernism, and Matisse and Ruo, his devoted disciples, were the founders of Fauvism.

Moro himself did not want to recognize himself as unique or detached from time, or, even more so, incomprehensible. He saw himself as an artist-thinker, but at the same time, which emphasized, put color, line and form first, and not verbal images. Wanting to protect himself from unwanted interpretations, he often accompanied his paintings with detailed comments and sincerely regretted that “until now there was not a single person who could seriously talk about my painting.”

Gustave Moreau died of cancer on April 18, 1898, bequeathing the state house with all the works there and all the contents of the apartment.