Collection: Thomas Couture

Thomas Couture (1815-1879) was a French painter known for his historical and allegorical paintings. He was born in Senlis, France, and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under the renowned neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Couture's early works were mainly portraits, but he soon became known for his large-scale history paintings, which often depicted dramatic and emotional scenes from classical and contemporary literature. One of his most famous works is "Romans During the Decadence," which depicts a debauched scene in ancient Rome.Couture was a prominent figure in the French art world and taught at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he had a profound influence on the next generation of artists. He was also a vocal critic of the academic establishment, advocating for a more naturalistic style of painting that emphasized emotion and individual expression over the strict rules of neoclassicism.