id: 150082 accession number: 1980.287 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1980.287 updated: 2023-09-15 11:23:04.944000 Heaven and Hell, c. 1850. Octave Tassaert (French, 1800–1874). Oil on fabric; framed: 121 x 90.5 x 6.5 cm (47 5/8 x 35 5/8 x 2 9/16 in.); unframed: 100 x 69.5 cm (39 3/8 x 27 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.287 title: Heaven and Hell title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1850 creation date earliest: 1845 creation date latest: 1855 current location: creditline: Bequest of Noah L. Butkin copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: oil on fabric department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Octave Tassaert (French, 1800–1874) - artist Born into a family of Flemish origin that had already included several generations of artists, (Nicolas-François) Octave Tassaert was first taught by his father, Jean-Joseph-François Tassaert (1765-ca. 1835), and then by his older brother, Paul (d. 1855), who were both printmakers and print dealers. In 1816 Octave apprenticed with the engraver Alexis-François Girard (1787-1870), then studied at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1817 through 1825, under Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760-1832). Yet, to his great disappointment Tassaert never succeeded in winning the Prix de Rome, nor the Legion of Honor later in his career. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, the artist painted history paintings and a few portraits, but in order to make ends meet, he worked for various publishers as an engraver and lithographer. His first success came when the duc d'Orléans purchased his canvas The Death of Correggio (Salon 1834, Hermitage, St. Petersburg). Tassaert's historical, religious, allegorical, and especially genre scenes of an often melodramatic character earned him such titles as "the poor man's Prud'hon," or "the attic Correggio."1 Although his works did not always meet with critical approval, during the 1850s he achieved some popular success with paintings depicting the lives of the poor: unhappy families, dying mothers, sick or abandoned children, and the like. While addressing social injustice, Tassaert attempted to strike the emotional chord of the viewer. Although his submission to the 1855 World Exhibition was well received by the critics, Tassaert became more and more withdrawn from the art world that he despised, and he no longer exhibited after the Salon of 1857. Although there were some collectors of his art, such as Alfred Bruyas and Alexandre Dumas fils, the artist sold all his remaining work to the dealer Père Martin in 1863 and ceased painting. Tassaert became an alcoholic and his health and eyesight deteriorated greatly. In 1865 he went for treatment to Montpellier where he stayed with Bruyas, but his recovery was short-lived after his return to Paris. Although he is said to have begun writing poetry, almost none of his literary output seems to have survived. Lacking any prospects for his situation to improve, Tassaert committed suicide in 1874, after which his reputation soon waned. --- measurements: Framed: 121 x 90.5 x 6.5 cm (47 5/8 x 35 5/8 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 100 x 69.5 cm (39 3/8 x 27 3/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1980 opening date: 1981-06-24T04:00:00 Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * New York, Shepherd Gallery. Christian Imagery in French Nineteenth Century Art 1789-1906 (Spring 1980), no. 60 (repr.). --- PROVENANCE Georges Martin du Nord, Paris, France date: footnotes: citations: (Shepherd Gallery, New York, NY) date: footnotes: citations: (Shepherd Gallery, New York, NY, May 1977, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin) date: -1977 footnotes: citations: Mr. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland, OH by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1977-1980 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1980- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: This painting focuses upon the struggle between good and evil for the soul of a young woman. Looking out at the viewer, she is shown in the upper center of the composition, immediately below an angel and directly above Satan. At the upper right Saint Michael—holding scales for weighing the goodness of souls—admits the blessed to Heaven. Below, the Damned struggle to avoid the fiery pits of Hell and the demons that will torment them for eternity. At the time Tassaert painted this work, France was undergoing considerable political upheaval. In 1848, the country was wracked by a civil war between royalist and republican forces. Tassaert himself believed strongly in the Republic, and probably intended the young woman—caught between the sensual, worldly temptations of royalist excesses and the noble, pure ideals of the Republic—to personify the country of France. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European paintings of the 19th century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: Vol. II, P. 595-597, no. 209 url: Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1980." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163-219. page number: Reproduced: P. 170, no. 72; Mentioned: P. 182, 213 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25159730 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.287/1980.287_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.287/1980.287_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.287/1980.287_full.tif