Gaston (de) La Touche

Biography of Gaston (de) La Touche ( 1854-1913 )

Genre and landscape painter, Gaston de La Touche frequented Manet’s Studio between 1877 and 1879. Later on, he was advised by his friend Braquemont who will be painted by La Touche’s side in 1908 in Braquemond and his disciple (Orsay Museum).Manet, as for him, depicted Gaston de La Touche in Bar at Folies-Bergères and offered him his palette, as a souvenir.

Member of the French Artists in 1883, La Touche joined the National Society of Beaux-Arts in 1890. He won numerous awards from 1884 at the Salon, and at the 1889 and 1900 Expositions Universelles.

In 1890, the official Salon split and the National Society of Beaux-Arts was launched at the Palace of Industry, under the auspices of Meissonier and Puvis de Chavannes. La Touche was then one of the most popular academic painters during this split. Then, in 1906, he founded the Salon of the Watercolour society, of which he became the president.

His landscapes painted with verve have both grace of 18^th century and touch of the Modern Style. Under the influence of Braquemond, he changed his style radically: he abandoned the realistic themes with a social nature of his early career and painted subjects inspired by Watteau; those themes will bring him notoriety. His bright style with an “impressionist” touch and dancing reflection was very popular not only among the audience, but also among the State’s leaders who will commission  numerous decorative panels.

The general exhibition of his works at the Georges Petit’s gallery triumphed among the spectators and was praised by critics.