Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois, also known as Gustave Courtois (; 18 May 1852 in
Pusey, Haute-Saône
Pusey () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regi ...
– 23 November 1923 in
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...
) was a French
painter
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
, a representative of the
academic style of art.
Early life and education

Courtois was born 18 May 1852 in
Pusey, Haute-Saône
Pusey () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regi ...
, France to an unwed mother who was devoted to him. Early in life, Courtois revealed an interest in art and entered the ''École municipale de dessin'' in
Vesoul
Vesoul ( ) is a Communes of France, commune in the predominantly rural Haute-Saône department, of which it is the Prefectures in France, prefecture, or capital, in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern Franc ...
(
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...
). His drawings were shown to
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...
, and in 1869, Gérôme encouraged Courtois to enter the ''
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...
'' in Paris. Courtois was in close friendship with fellow student
Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret
Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (7 January 1852 – 3 July 1929) was a French painter, one of the leading members of the naturalist school.
Biography
He was born in Paris, the son of a tailor, and was raised by his grandfather after hi ...
, with whom he maintained a fashionable studio in Neuilly-sur-Seine from the 1880s.
Career
Courtois taught painting at
Académie de la Grande Chaumière
The Académie de la Grande Chaumière () is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France.
History
The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the A ...
,
Académie Colarossi
The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...
in Paris, where
Harriet Campbell Foss,
Eva Bonnier
Eva Fredrika Bonnier (17 November 1857 – 13 January 1909) was a Swedish painter and philanthropist.
__TOC__
Biography
Born in Stockholm as the daughter of publisher Albert Bonnier and a member of a leading family of publishers, Bonnier st ...
,
Emma Cheves Wilkins, and
Dora Hitz
Dora Hitz (30 March 1856, Altdorf bei Nürnberg - 20 November 1924, Berlin) was a Court Painter to the Romanian Royal Family, a member of the November Group and co-founder of the Berlin Secession.
Life
When she was six years old, her family ...
were students.
Courtois exhibited at the ''Salon de Paris'', receiving a third-place medal in 1878 and a second-place medal in 1880. He was awarded a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1889 and exhibited at the ''Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts'' from 1911 to 1914.
His paintings can be seen in the art galleries of Besançon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Luxembourg. He was a
Chevalier of the Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. Among his students were
Willard Dryden Paddock,
Mary Rose Hill Burton
Mary Rose Hill Burton (10 July 1859 – 5 June 1900) was a British artist and conservationist. She was active in the failed protests against the location of a smelting plant at the Falls of Foyers, near Loch Ness, in Inverness-shire.
Early life ...
, and
Sara Page
Sara Wells Page (1855–1943) was a British artist, portrait and figurative painter, of the Victorian and Edwardian period. During her lifetime she was widely exhibited at Parisian salons and British galleries, including the Royal Academy of Ar ...
.
Gustave Courtois was a close friend of the Finnish artist
Albert Edelfelt
Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (21 July 1854 – 18 August 1905) was a Finnish Painting, painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realism (arts), Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visib ...
. They lived in the same studio building in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, socialized daily, shared many artistic ideals and supported each other in their work.
References
Sources
*Robert Fernier. ''Gustave Courtois: 1852-1923'', 1943.
*Gabriel P. Weisberg. ''Against the Modern: Dagnan-Bouveret and the Transformation of the Academic Tradition'', 2002.
External links
"Gustave Claude Etienne Courtois" ''Artnet''
"The New Bonnet" ''Christies''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtois, Gustave-Claude-Etienne
1852 births
1923 deaths
Knights of the Legion of Honour
19th-century French painters
French male painters
20th-century French painters
20th-century French male artists
École des Beaux-Arts alumni
People from Vesoul
Members of the Ligue de la patrie française
Académie Colarossi alumni
19th-century French male artists