born April 6, 1826, Paris, France
died April 18, 1898, Paris
French painter.
He developed a distinctive style in the 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 {{link=Abstract Expressionism">Abstract Expressionism .