Gaston Bussiere (1862-1928) was born in Cuisery, the French village not far from the Swiss border. His father Victor was a painter and decorator in Macon, where Gaston moved with a family when he was five. He followed the artistic call to the Academy of Fine Arts in Lyon, before continuing studies in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-arts. His first major teacher was Alexandre Cabanel and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was next.
After the exhibition at the Salon, he got orders for frescoes, paintings and different architectural decorations for several churches and other important buildings what helped building his reputation as an artist and illustrator. He illustrated Splendors and miseries of courtesans by Honore de Balzac, Salome by Oscar Wilde, Enamels and cameos by Theophile Gautier and Salambo by Gustave Flaubert.
He was strongly influenced by contemporaries like Puvis de Chavanne, Gustave Moreau and Alphonse Mucha, working with all of them for some time. His style is a mixture of Symbolism, Orientalism Art Nouveau, and pre-Raphaelitism.
Bussiere's favorite themes were legends (mostly French and Nordic), religious themes and nudes. Sometimes all these overlapped like in the next illustration for 'The most beautiful fairy tale of all fairy tales' (said by George MacDonald) Undine:
Here is a link to the site fully devoted to paintings and illustrations of Undine:
http://undine.webs.com/
And here are a few other interesting facts about Gaston Bussiere
- The artistic development of Gaston Bussiere was not always satisfactory. Especially in last decade of his life this successful colorist actually became a true master of kitsch.
- While many of his works belong to private collections, we can probably find the largest quantity of them in The Musee des Ursulines de Macon.
- Gaston Bussière died on October 29 in Saulieu in 1928 after a car accident.
After the exhibition at the Salon, he got orders for frescoes, paintings and different architectural decorations for several churches and other important buildings what helped building his reputation as an artist and illustrator. He illustrated Splendors and miseries of courtesans by Honore de Balzac, Salome by Oscar Wilde, Enamels and cameos by Theophile Gautier and Salambo by Gustave Flaubert.
He was strongly influenced by contemporaries like Puvis de Chavanne, Gustave Moreau and Alphonse Mucha, working with all of them for some time. His style is a mixture of Symbolism, Orientalism Art Nouveau, and pre-Raphaelitism.
Bussiere's favorite themes were legends (mostly French and Nordic), religious themes and nudes. Sometimes all these overlapped like in the next illustration for 'The most beautiful fairy tale of all fairy tales' (said by George MacDonald) Undine:
Here is a link to the site fully devoted to paintings and illustrations of Undine:
http://undine.webs.com/
And here are a few other interesting facts about Gaston Bussiere
- The artistic development of Gaston Bussiere was not always satisfactory. Especially in last decade of his life this successful colorist actually became a true master of kitsch.
- While many of his works belong to private collections, we can probably find the largest quantity of them in The Musee des Ursulines de Macon.
- Gaston Bussière died on October 29 in Saulieu in 1928 after a car accident.
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