Auguste Toulmouche (1829-1890) was a French painter who loved to depict charming women in various interiors. He was born in Nantes and moved to Paris in 1846. Auguste’s uncle was a sculptor, so the artist lived surrounded by beauty from childhood. He took painting lessons from the leading masters of his time and gradually became popular himself.

He followed the realistic, but at the same time academic style that prevailed in the Paris of his time, meticulously depicting not only women’s charms, but also their outfits and rich furnishings.

The artist was generally approved by critics, won medals at the Paris Salon in 1852 and 1861, and was awarded the title of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

Although there were those who characterized Toulmouche’s works as “elegant trinkets.” And the writer Emile Zola spoke disparagingly of Toulmouche’s “charming dolls.”

And then came the time of the Impressionists. His popularity began to decline, and Toulmouche never regained its former level.

Yes, Auguste Toulmouche’s paintings do not play any social role, they are, one might say, divorced from real life, they do not introduce innovations into the art of painting. They are simply beautiful, as are the women he depicted.

And it is simply pleasant to admire them. And also to admire the artist’s skill.

There were many different women in the artist’s life, but he was betrayed by one – fickle and changeable, easily fluttering through times and eras, ruthless and insidious Fashion. Toulmouche’s style simply became unfashionable. It is easy to imagine the artist, to whom all of Paris aspired, broken and forgotten by those he painted, trying to depict the beauty that perhaps only he himself saw.

Auguste Toulmouche tried to change the genre, but he was never able to betray the main thing in his life – Woman.