Charles Toché (26 July 1851,

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

– 31 August 1916,

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 ...

) was a French decorative artist, painter, poster artist 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 ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

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

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, 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 Modernism, 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 (art movement), R ...

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

fresco Fresco ( 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 plaster, the painting become ...

es in the Grand Galerie of the Château de Chenonceau. When they had been completed, he created designs for the Chateau's

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

. During his work there, he met the writer,

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...

, who asked him to illustrate the definitive edition of his novel, '' The Temptation of Saint Anthony''. In 1880, he painted decorations in Le Chabanais; a famous

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

. 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 Galerie Georges Petit, where he displayed the drawings he had made for the frescoes at Chenonceau. At the Exposition Universelle of 1889, he helped decorate several of the pavilions; including the Liberal Arts, Republic of South Africa, Argentina, and

Viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

. He also designed one of the posters for the event. Later, he created frescoes at the Théâtre Graslin in Nantes and at the Olympia in Paris. In 1893, he produced a series of illustrations on the history of costume for the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago. Some of his posters may be seen at the

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

References

External links

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

Biography

References

Further reading

External links