The Art of Gaston Bussiere
The Art Tribune: A student of Alexandre Cabanel, Bussière often produced this type of work which combines the Symbolist approach, the art of the English pre-Raphaelites and that of historical painting by artists such as Jean-Paul Laurens. He interprets the latter’s universe (the figure of Siegmund for instance, seems to come directly from a Laurens painting) in aphantasmagorical style, with flickering colours and affected forms which also evoke Jean Delville. The backgrounds in his landscapes (the case for the one acquired here by Cherbourg) recalls Puvis de Chavanne (with whom he worked) or Alphonse Osbert.
The artist’s style evolved later in a manner that can only be qualified as being more and more “kitsch” arriving in the 1920’s at a point which even the most ardent supporters of art history find hard to defend. Nonetheless, his early works should not be forgotten, among them very fine examples such as the beautiful Death of Roland (Mâcon, Musée des Ursulines). Let us point out that Mâcon where his father, Victor Bussière, painter and decorator, settled in 1862 when Gaston was five years old, is preparing two exhibitions devoted to this family of artists the first of which, Les Bussière, peintres et décorateurs (), will open 18 October 2008 and run through 1st February 2009.
The Art Tribune Website
http://www.thearttribune.com/A-large-format-by-Gaston-Bussiere.html
Wikimedia Media Files on Gaston Bussiere
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Gaston_Bussiere
