born April 6, 1826, Paris, France
died April 18, 1898, Paris
French painter.
He developed a distinctive style in the Symbolist mode, becoming known for his erotic paintings of mythological and religious subjects. Such works as Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864) and Dance of Salome (1876) have often been described as decadent. He made a number of technical experiments, including scraping his canvases; his nonfigurative paintings, done in a loose manner with thick impasto, have led some to call him a herald of Abstract Expressionism .