French painter. Influenced by Felix Bracquemond and Edouard Manet. His only formal training was from the age of ten until the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. However, his early painting career was greatly influenced by Manet’s philosophies: sincerity, candour, integrity, and striving for the truth in both art and life. His early works were social commentaries on the plight of the miners and laborers - a Realist’s approach to art. From 1890 to 1896, his style began to shift from realism to idealism, and his latter career was heavily influenced by Bracquemond who convinced him to shift his subject matter to lighter subjects. La Touche’s work has an ethereal quality achieved through feathery brushstrokes. His latter work features imagery such as parks, fireworks, fete-champetres, landscapes, mythological scenes, and the Park of Versailles.
