Jacquet, Gustave Jean

Gustave Jacquet’s first and only official teacher was William Adolphe Bouguereau, whose influence is evident in Jacquet’s early work. Jacquet debuted at the Salon of 1865, with an allegory, The Dream, a painting one could easily mistake for a work by Bouguereau.

In the following years, he developed his own style of genre painting based on the technical mastery he had acquired from his teacher, but unique to Jacquet. The works were small and evoked in great detail the elegant life of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. In 1868, he was awarded a third-class medal for his Departure of the Army in the 16th Century. Around this same time, he began doing fine portraits, sometimes dressing his sitters in costumes from earlier eras, as is the case with Young Beauty.

In 1875, Jacquet obtained a first-class medal and was decorated by the Legion of Honor in 1879, a clear indication of his success.

Jacquet’s career was consistent throughout his life. He was a tireless worker, producing many paintings, each one done with beautiful and caring detail. Jacquet’s delicate rendering of fabrics, skin, hair, and textiles clearly illustrates his artistic skill and love of painting. In his expansive oeuvre, Jacquet’s nudes are particularly graceful and feminine, and his portraits capture the character and elegance of the sitters.

Works by Jacquet are housed in many important public and private institutions throughout the world, including collections in Blois, Chateau-Thierry, Rouen, Paris, and Sheffield (England), as well as preeminent American museums: The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.