Musée d'Orsay Acquires Major Gustave Moreau Collection of Works and Letters
The Facts
The Musée d'Orsay in Paris has acquired a significant collection of works by Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, including paintings, drawings, and personal letters. The acquisition comprises pieces such as "Hélène sur les murs de Troie," "L'Enfance de Sixte-Quint," "L'Enlèvement d'Europe," "Salomé dansant ou Salomé à la fleur de lotus," "Le Poète et la Sirène," "Hésiode et la Muse," "Samson et Dalila," "L'Amour et les Muses," "Giotto en berger dessinant dans la campagne près de Florence," and two studies of vipers. Also included are three letters from Moreau to Charles Ephrussi dated 1881 and 1882, and a work by Paul Victor Grandhomme titled "Sapho" from around 1895. The museum has not disclosed the purchase price or the seller.
The Signal
The acquisition strengthens the Musée d'Orsay's holdings of Moreau, whose work bridges Romanticism and Symbolism and who taught Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault. The inclusion of letters to Ephrussi, a prominent art critic and collector, provides scholarly context for Moreau's practice and his network. For collectors, this move signals continued institutional interest in 19th-century French academic and Symbolist art, which has seen steady museum demand even as the market focuses on Impressionist and Modern works.
- Artists: Gustave Moreau, Paul Victor Grandhomme
- People: Charles Ephrussi
- Museums: Musée d'Orsay
- Locations: Paris
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