"Ophélie", huile sur toile , G.RICARD (1823-1873)

Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and sister of Laërte, sinks into madness and dies, by accident or suicide, lotsque Hamlet, her lover whom he has abandoned, assassinates her father. Ophélie has served as a source of inspiration for composers like Berlioz and Saint-Saëns, painters (cf. John Everett's masterpiece MILLAIS), writers and poets (including Arthur Rimbaud). A pupil at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Marseille, where he was born in 1823, directed by Auguste Aubert, he became a pupil of Pierre Bronzet, who taught him the art of portraiture. He entered the Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1843 in the studio of Léon Cogniet. He traveled frequently to Italy, Holland, Germany and England, and returned to Paris in 1850, the year he presented several works at the Salon, and received the 2nd class medal. He endeavors to concentrate his talent on restoring the light or the radiance of a face. 1st class medal in 1853, Universal Exhibition in 1855. Paul de Musset notes that he had a natural disposition to mysticity, and he executed figures of fantasy and study, some still lifes, and some mythological and allegorical compositions. Museums: Grenoble, Paris. Very beautiful setting in restoration.