Painter
Rochegrosse Georges-Antoine
1859-1938
Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse born in Versailles on August 2, 1859 and died in El Biar (Algeria) on July 11, 1938 is a French painter, decorator and illustrator.
Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse was born from Élise Marie Bourotte (1828-1904) and Jules Jean Baptiste Rochegrosse who died in 1874. He frequented the artists and men of letters that his father-in-law received at his home: Paul Verlaine, Stéphane Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud, Victor Hugo and Gustave Flaubert.
He began his training as a painter with Alfred Dehodencq, then in 1871 entered the Académie Julian in Paris in the workshops of Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger, and finished his studies at the École des beaux-arts in Paris. He competed twice without success for the Prix de Rome in 1880 and 1881, and made his debut at the Salon of 1882 where he was a medalist. The following year, he obtained a grant to make a study trip which enabled him to travel all over Europe.
At the start of his career, he practiced history painting1 and tried his hand at symbolism. Painter recognized and appreciated by the good society, Rochegrosse was named Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1892. Then he turned to Orientalism by discovering Algeria in 1894.
He settled in El Biar, in the suburbs of Algiers, in 1900. He made the trip to Paris every summer, where he was a member of the jury for the Salon des Artistes Français. They spent the winter in Algeria and the summer in Paris. In 1910, Rochegrosse had a workshop, Dar es Saouar, where he received his students. The same year, he was promoted to officer of the Legion of Honor.
In 1905, he was professor at the Druet Academy, founded in Paris in 1904 by the painter Antoine Druet (1857-1921). He is an influential member of the Society of French Orientalist Painters. Rochegrosse exhibited not only in Paris, but also at the Salon of Algerian artists and chaired the jury of the Artistic Union of North Africa from 1925, as well as the Professional Union of Algerian Artists.
He died in Algiers in 1938. His body was transferred and buried in Paris in the Montparnasse cemetery.
