Gustave Loiseau - Artist's Biography

Gustave Loiseau was born in Paris. He was first apprenticed to a decorator, a job he very much disliked. It was only in 1887 that a legacy from his grandmother presented an opportunity to fulfill his aspiration to become a painter. After he had finished military service, he gave up his job and dedicated his life to painting. His formal training took place at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris and afterwards he joined the landscape artist Fernand Just Quignon in his studio in 1889.

Seeking a location where he could concentrate on his love of landscape painting, Loiseau travelled to Pont-Aven in Brittany where he met Henry Moret, Maxime Maufra and other artists of the Pont-Aven School who influenced his style considerably. He ascertained a great deal from Gauguin who had returned from his first trip to Tahiti, but Loiseau’s early work showed a great debt to Camille Pissaro and Alfred Sisley.

After a period of experimenting with Pointillism, Loiseau found his own vision of French landscapes. His canvases reveal an interest in creating a more melancholic atmosphere, avoiding the intense light found in the work of the Impressionists. A renewed aesthetic sense characterised the stylistic path for expression, portraying the world not just by its physical appearance but by its inner realities. Loiseau looked at nature with extraordinary sensitivity, defining structure and form with short brush strokes of broken colour, which places him firmly within the perception of Post- Impressionism.

Loiseau first exhibited at the Salon des Independents in 1893. The leading art collector and primary patron of the Impressionists Paul Durand-Ruel put the artist under his contract in 1894. This success enabled Loiseau to travel widely in France, painting mainly in Normandy, in the Dordogne and Paris.

In his latter years he moved to Paris where he painted a series of works of the capital city. In the early 20th century Loiseau enjoyed great international success, with patrons in the United States and in Europe collecting his work. His paintings are represented in galleries in Paris, the Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.