René Rousseau-Decelle studied with the master of French Academic painting, William Bouguereau, in the waning years of the older artist’s life.
It is clear that the young Rousseau-Decelle quickly moved away from the tightly-painted images of French peasant girls and threw himself headlong into the world of the haute bourgeoisie of fin-de-siècle Paris.
Like his master, Rousseau-Decelle found a very commercially successful niche and adhered to that formula throughout his career.
René Rousseau-Decelle | Le pesage de Longchamp, 1910 (detail)