| Gustave Courtois | |
| Birth Name: | Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois |
| Birth Date: | 18 May 1852 |
| Birth Place: | Pusey, France |
| Death Place: | Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois, also known as Gustave Courtois (in French ɡystav kuʁtwa/; 18 May 1852 in Pusey, Haute-Saône – 23 November 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine)[1] was a French painter, a representative of the academic style of art.
Courtois was born 18 May 1852 in Pusey, Haute-Saône, France to an unwed mother who was devoted to him. Early in life, Courtois revealed an interest in art and entered the École municipale de dessin in Vesoul (Franche-Comté). His drawings were shown to Jean-Léon Gérôme, and in 1869, Gérôme encouraged Courtois to enter the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Courtois was in close friendship with fellow student Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret, with whom he maintained a fashionable studio in Neuilly-sur-Seine from the 1880s.[2]
Courtois taught painting at Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Académie Colarossi in Paris,[3] where Harriet Campbell Foss,[4] [5] Eva Bonnier, Emma Cheves Wilkins, and Dora Hitz were students.
Courtois exhibited at the Salon de Paris, receiving a third-place medal in 1878 and a second-place medal in 1880. He was awarded a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1889 and exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts from 1911 to 1914.
His paintings can be seen in the art galleries of Besançon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Luxembourg. He was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Among his students were Willard Dryden Paddock, Mary Rose Hill Burton, and Sara Page.
Gustave Courtois was a close friend of the Finnish artist Albert Edelfelt. They lived in the same studio building in Paris, socialized daily, shared many artistic ideals and supported each other in their work.[6]