The pernicious addiction to alcohol and the unrelenting loss of vision dragged the talented artist Nicolas François Octave Tassaert away from the arts and into a listless life where the only respite was literature. Ultimately, he committed suicide in his modest home at Rue du Géorama in Paris. What truly led to his lack of recognition and society’s repudiation was that the theme Tassaert explored the most in his paintings was eroticism. His paintings were certainly not rose tinted; he represented the life of the poor, dysfunctional families, dying mothers and children, or sick people. He was a painter and sculptor of works that were highly charged, depicting the carnal act, seduction, temptation, and sexual pleasure. He was the patron of lust in the art world par excellence.
While today Nicolas François is a well-loved painter, this Parisian artist was an outcast from the artistic circles of his time and the public spurned his creations. He carried in his blood generations of artists, and he was a pupil in the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris. With such a heavy burden on his shoulders, he was disappointed never to be awarded the acclaimed Prix de Rome nor the Legion of Honor. To make a living, he had to do historical, epic paintings and portraits.
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La Femme Damnée (1800-1874)
These paintings drove Tassaert further into obscurity in the art world. The woman is receiving oral sex from a few celestial angels, and it was this particular painting that put a stop to his exhibitions in the Salon de 1857.
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Le chat jaloux (1860)
Despite the fact there were a few, private collectors like Alfred Bruyas and Alexandre Dumas, the artist sold all his paintings that were left in his atelier in 1863. It is a tongue-in-cheek painting showing a half-dressed woman and a man having sex and the consequences of doing such an act in front of a “jealous cat.”
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Die vorsichtige Geliebte or The Cautious Lover (1860)
The title of the painting touches on the subject of protection while having sex. For Tassaert, eroticism wasn’t the only subject he explored in his paintings; he also created many works denouncing social injustice.
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The Temptation of Saint Hilarion (1857)
The sins of Saint Hilarion torment him on a daily basis. In the painting, he is desperately reading the word of God and behind him lies all the temptation, buxom temptresses, fumbling over one another to make an erotic impression. One of them turns to him, offering a chalice of red wine.
The motives behind his suicide are unknown; some believe the reason behind such tragedy was his little success and the constant rejection from society. Some stipulate that he was betting on the success and resulting admiration for the painting of Saint Hilarion; however, the results were quite the opposite.
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(No name)
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Pygmalion et Galatée
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Bacchus et Erigone
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A Sultry Dream
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Ciel et enfer
George Bataille once wrote, “without prohibition there would be no eroticism,” and while this art has been created since time immemorial, religion and man himself have put barriers and even prohibited its creation. It is unfortunate that man has put down the limits of art, painting, sculptures, and any form of creative expressions. These erotic paintings are filled to the brim not only with lust, but with symbolism, allegory, and myths. Tassaert may have caused many fans to flutter and their cheeks to flush, but now we stand in awe because of their great composition and daring. It might be that in his lifetime he was scorned by the artistic elite, but now his paintings hang in the hallways of great museums and galleries. Justice has been served, perhaps too late.
