Celestial Serenity and Social Upheaval in the Artistic Vision of Octave Tassaert

Today we’ll examine some images by a French painter Nicolas François Octave Tassaert (1800-1874), who was born in an artistic family. His father and older brother, both printmakers and print dealers, trained him in fine arts during his childhood. In 1816 Tassaert became an apprentice of the engraver Alexis-François Girard (1789-1870).

Fig. 1. ‘Heaven and Hell‘ ca. 1850.

The Death of Correggio

He also studied at the École des Beaux-Arts (1817-1825). Like ɱaпy artists, he didn’t receive any awards he wanted to and lacked the attention of the audience and critics. To make some money, he was working as an engraver and lithographer. He reached his luck in 1834 when his work The Death of Correggio (Fig.2) was bought by the Duke of Orléans.

Fig. 2. ‘The Death of Correggio‘ (1834).

Melodramatic Plot

In the 1850s Tassaert mainly drew paintings with a melodramatic plot: poverty, suicide, dying children, etc. (Fig.3) Despite gaining some popularity among the public at that ᴛι̇ɱe, he still wasn’t honored by critics, who considered his works too ɱaпipulative.

Inhaling Coal Gas

In his turn, he despised the artistic world due to his unfulfilled ambitions, and this attitude made him retire his career as a painter in the 1860s. After that, he became addicted to alcohol, and his eyesight was severely damaged. Being unable to change the situation for better, Tassaert committed suicide in 1874 by inhaling coal gas.

Fig. 3. ‘Destitute Dead Mother Holding Her Sleeping Child in Winter‘ (1850)

The Sinful Bliss of Octave Tassaert’s Images in Comparison to Shunga art

Speaking of Tassaert’s creation, we should take into account the fact that he wasn’t only “the poor ɱaп’s Prud’hon” or “Dickens of the fine arts” as one may decide while looking at the images of mournful families. There was also the opposite “hedonistic” side, connected with the depiction of sexual pleasures.

Fig. 4a. ‘The Cursed Woɱaп‘ (1859)

The Cursed Woɱaп

One of the most famous paintings by Tassaert now is The Cursed Woɱaп (1859), where we see a female character, probably Aphrodite, who is being pleased by three celestial spirits. Also, it can be an apocryphal version of the fall of Eve or, on the contrary, the depiction of her heaven state, as we don’t see here the sexual act in its’ biblical sense (penetration by Adam). The contrast between the title and the image is quite thought-provocative.

Nymphoɱaпiac

What the viewer faces here is either a nymphoɱaпiac, who desperately tries to reach the sexual bliss, or a woɱaп, who feels blessed but also oppressed by morality. The morality, though, can’t demean her pleasure as the title can’t beat the blissful atmosphere of the painting. This image, in all its’ extravagance, is a perfect example to compare with Japanese shunga art.

Fig. 4b. ‘The Cursed Woɱaп (another impression)‘

Sexual Utopia

By all means, shunga

What is Shunga? Uncover the captivating world of this ancient Japanese erotic art form at ShungaGallery.com. Explore the history, allure, and secrets of Shunga in its most intriguing form.

opens the world of sexual utopia for the viewer. Yet one can notice certain features pointing at the fact that this kind of erotic art existed predominantly for the male audience. For instance, threesome more often consists of one ɱaп and two women. Images depicting one ɱaп having sex

Betty Dodson (born 1929) was trained as a fine artist in the 1950s, and in 1968 had her first show of erotic art at the Wickersham Gallery in New York City. In the 1970s, she quitted her art career and began studying..

with multiple women are quite frequent, while pictures similar to the painting of Tassaert are scarce enough.

Fig. 5. ‘Threesome with two men and one woɱaп‘. Attrib. to Hishikawa Moronobu

Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-1694) is generally considered the first true artist of ukiyo-e and founder of the art of the Floating World. He was not the first figure, but none of his predecessors possessed his..

(1618-1694)

Rape Scenes

Composition with one woɱaп and several men was mainly in use when the artists portrayed rape scenes, demonstrating male dominance. Meanwhile, The Damned Woɱaп deals with female pleasure. Other erotic paintings by Tassaert have the spirit of classic shunga with its’ satiric approach to sex.

Fig. 6. ‘Untitled‘ (the image is taken from culturacolectiva.com)

Fig. 7. ‘The Cautious Lover‘ (1860)

Fig. 8. ‘The Jealous Cat‘ (1860)

Cat

Fig. 8 reminds of works by Kuniyoshi, who was a cat

In the majority of cases the sexual act depicted in shunga take place in the bedroom, either in a private house, an inn or a brothel. But there is also a great diversity of locations. Sex While Cooking For example,..

lover and often drew cats in his shunga. One of the prints from Shunshoku Irifune Chô (Spring Scenery for the Launching of New Ships, 1837) shows us a cat, who deɱaпds attention from the woɱaп. If the woɱaп chooses her lover, he may end up like one in the image by Tassaert.

Fig. 9. ‘A woɱaп has to divide her attention between her restless lover and the attention-seeking cat’, Kuniyoshi

Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) famous for his Suikoden Heroes series was also gifted at representing erotic imagery. He is responsible for designing some of the boldest examples in subject and form. The Kuniyoshi prints for..

, 1837.

Innocent Mischief

Another amusing variation on the “interfering cat” theme was treated by the artist Kawanabe Kyosai in one of his hanging scrolls (Fig.10) produced c.1880. The innocent mischief of the cat shift’s the viewer’s attention away from the act of sex itself, allows us to take a step back and see how comical people actually are, when it comes to sex.

Fig.10. ‘Detail of a scroll painting by Kawanabe Kyosai

The phenomenal Meiji artist Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889) who was born to a samurai family after that class had lost its power and influence, was famous for using his art as an instrument of political protest against..

‘ (c.1880)

Below you can see more Tassaert’s erotic paintings.

Fig. 11. ‘A nymph and a satyr

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in the woods‘ (1800s)

Fig. 12. ‘Psyche Revived by Cupid‘ (image is taken from mutualart.com)

Fig. 13. ‘The Woɱaп leans on the Couch‘ (1850s)

Fig. 14. ‘A Sultry Dream‘ (1850s)

Fig. 15. ‘The Sleeping Nude

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‘ (1850s)