Background
He was born at Versailles and studied in Paris with Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger.
etcher illustrator painter poster artist
He was born at Versailles and studied in Paris with Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger.
Académie Julian, Royal College of Artist École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
His themes are generally historical, and he treated them on a colossal scale and in an emotional naturalistic style, with a distinct revelling in horrible subjects and details. He made his Paris Salon début in 1882 with Vitellis traîné dans les rues de Rome par la populace (Vitellius dragged through the streets of Rome by the people) (1882. Sens). There followed Louisiana Jacquerie (1885.
Untraced), Le mort de Babylone (The fall of Babylon) (1891.
Untraced), The death of the Emperor Geta (1899. Musée de Picardie, Amiens), and Barbarian ambassadors at the Court of Justinian (1907.
Untraced), all of which exemplify his strong and spirited but sensational and often brutal painting. In quite another style and beautiful in color is his Le Chevalier aux Fleurs (The Knight of Flowers) (1894.
Musée d"Orsay, Paris.
RF 898). Rochegrosse also illustrated several books Some of the drawings for these illustrations are in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, London.
He lived his final years in Algeria, but returned to Paris where he died and is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery.