Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence". He was an influential forerunner of symbolism in the visual arts in the s, and at the height of the symbolist movement in the s, he was among the most significant painters. Art historian Robert Delevoy wrote that Moreau "brought symbolist polyvalence to its highest point in Jupiter and Semele.
He was a prolific artist who produced over 15, paintings, watercolors, and drawings. Moreau painted allegories and traditional biblical and mythological subjects favored by the fine art academies.
Huysmans wrote, "Gustave Moreau has given new freshness to dreary old subjects by a talent both subtle and ample: he has taken myths worn out by the repetitions of centuries and expressed them in a language that is persuasive and lofty, mysterious and new. The female characters from the Bible and mythology that he so frequently depicted came to be regarded by many as the archetypical symbolist woman. His art and symbolism in general fell from favor and received little attention in the early 20th century but, beginning in the s and 70s, he has come to be considered among the most paramount of symbolist painters.
Gustave Moreau was born in Paris and showed an aptitude for drawing at an early age. In his painting Oedipus and the Sphinx received a great deal attention at the Paris Salon, winning a medal and establishing his reputation.
He had continued success through the s, gradually gaining a select group of enthusiastic and loyal admirers and collectors. Although his painting Prometheus received a medal at the Salon of , criticisms in the press were severe and he did not submit paintings to the Salon again until , permanently withdrawing after Somewhat misanthropic, he grew increasingly reclusive in later years, although he maintained a close circle of friends.
