Blaise Alexandre Desgoffe Oil Paintings

Blaise Alexandre Desgoffe: Alexandre Blaise Dumont-Desgoffe was born in Paris on January 17, 1830 and died in Paris on May 2, 1901. He is considered a still life painter from the French school.

Desgoffe began his formal training at the Beaux-Arts Academie with Paul Flandrin (1811-1902). He exhibited at the Paris Salons from 1857 to 1868. He was awarded one of Frances’ most coveted honors into the Légion d’honneur in 1878.

Alexandre Blaise Desgoffe had an incredible ability to paint elaborate gold jewelry, crystal, military armaments draped in silks and tapestries from the Renaissance. His ego was just as great and he did not waste time telling everyone of his greatness. This was a fault and it made him very difficult to study under. However, as mentioned in numerous books on American still life painters, Desgoffe had an incredible influence on still life painting in the United States. In fact, "Ease, 1878" (a brick-a-brac still life known only from photograph because it was destroyed by fire) by William Michael Harnett (1848-1892), one America’s greatest tromp l’oeil still life painters, was the closest he ever came to answering the critics call for an American Desgoffe. William Merritt Chase’s (1849-1916) bric-a-brac still lifes were also somewhat influenced by Desgoffe.

Museums:
Baltimore Museum, MA
Brooklyn Museum, NY
Metropolitan Museum, NY
Musée de La Rochelle, France "Vase de porcelaine de Chine et autes natures mortes"
Musée de Liége "Coquillage sur un Livre"
Musée de Louvre, Paris "Chantilly", "Olifant de saint-Hubert

Listed:
E. Benezit, vol. III, pg. 518
Dictionnaire des Petits Maîtres 1820-1920, vol. 1, pg.388
American Still-Life Paintings, William Gerts and Russell Burk, pg 135 & 201
After the Hunt: William Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters 1870-1900;
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press