Gustav-Adolf Mossa (28 January 1883 â€" 25 May 1971) was a French
illustrator, playwright, essayist, curator and late Symbolist
painter.Mossa was born 28 January 1883 in Nice, to an Italian mother,
Marguerite Alfieri, and Alexis Mossa [fr], an artist, founding curator
of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice (Nice Museum of Fine Arts) and
organiser of the Nice Carnival from 1873.[1]Mossa received his initial
artistic training from his father[2] before studying at the School of
Decorative Arts in Nice until 1900, where he became acquainted with
Art Nouveau and was later introduced to the Symbolist movement after
visiting the Exposition Universelle in the same year.[3] Mossa was
heavily inspired by the art of Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau[4] and
Symbolist writers, such as Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé,
Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly and Joris-Karl Huysmans.[5]The main body of
Mossa's public and private art work was created with water colours and
strong ink lines, the subjects including caricatures, Carnival or
medieval scenes, portraits and landscapes, with a fascination for the
French Riveria in particular.[6] He also created wooden reliefs,
designed theatre scenery,[2] wrote literary essays[6] and created book
illustrations, including a large series of drawings for the work of
Robert Schumann.[7]
illustrator, playwright, essayist, curator and late Symbolist
painter.Mossa was born 28 January 1883 in Nice, to an Italian mother,
Marguerite Alfieri, and Alexis Mossa [fr], an artist, founding curator
of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice (Nice Museum of Fine Arts) and
organiser of the Nice Carnival from 1873.[1]Mossa received his initial
artistic training from his father[2] before studying at the School of
Decorative Arts in Nice until 1900, where he became acquainted with
Art Nouveau and was later introduced to the Symbolist movement after
visiting the Exposition Universelle in the same year.[3] Mossa was
heavily inspired by the art of Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau[4] and
Symbolist writers, such as Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé,
Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly and Joris-Karl Huysmans.[5]The main body of
Mossa's public and private art work was created with water colours and
strong ink lines, the subjects including caricatures, Carnival or
medieval scenes, portraits and landscapes, with a fascination for the
French Riveria in particular.[6] He also created wooden reliefs,
designed theatre scenery,[2] wrote literary essays[6] and created book
illustrations, including a large series of drawings for the work of
Robert Schumann.[7]
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