Charles Toché (26 July 1851,

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

- 31 August 1916,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a French decorative artist, painter,

poster artist ''Affichiste'' is the French word for a poster artist or poster designer, a graphic designer of posters. Etymology The name first appeared around 1780, but with a different meaning. It meant one involved in a poster's production and distributi ...

and illustrator.

Biography

His father, Émile François Toché (1802-1884), was a shipowner. He originally planned to become an architect and studied with Félix Thomas, who had participated in the first excavation of

Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...

. After completing his studies, he travelled through Spain and the Middle East, then went to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, where he studied and made sketches of the buildings. While there, he made the acquaintance of

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

, who inspired him to pursue painting. From 1875 to 1888, he worked on a large project: painting historical and allegorical

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es in the Grand Galerie of the

Château de Chenonceau The Château de Chenonceau () is a French château spanning the river Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire. It is one of the best-known châteaux of the Loire Valley. The estate of Chenonceau is firs ...

. When they had been completed, he created designs for the Chateau's

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

. During his work there, he met the writer, Gustave Flaubert, who asked him to illustrate the definitive edition of his novel, ''The Temptation of Saint Anthony (novel), The Temptation of Saint Anthony''. In 1880, he painted decorations in Le Chabanais; a famous brothel. This earned him the nickname, "Pubis de Chabanais" (a play on Puvis de Chavannes)."Splendeurs et misères, images de la prostitution", in ', series 5, 2015, p.26. His first public exhibition came in 1887, at the Georges Petit, Galerie Georges Petit, where he displayed the drawings he had made for the frescoes at Chenonceau. At the Exposition Universelle (1889), Exposition Universelle of 1889, he helped decorate several of the pavilions; including the Liberal Arts, Republic of South Africa, Argentina, and Viticulture. He also designed one of the posters for the event. Later, he created frescoes at the Théâtre Graslin in Nantes and at the Olympia (Paris), Olympia in Paris. In 1893, he produced a series of illustrations on the history of costume for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Some of his posters may be seen at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toche, Charles 1851 births 1916 deaths 19th-century French painters French illustrators French decorative artists French poster artists Artists from Nantes 20th-century French painters

Biography

References

Further reading

External links