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Taillasson, Jean-Joseph
(b Bordeaux, 6 July 1745; d Paris, 11 Nov 1809). French painter, draughtsman and critic. He first trained with the medallist André Lavau (d 1808) in Bordeaux. He then left for Paris; in 1764 he entered Joseph-Marie Vien’s studio and chose to become a history painter, but he had little success with the Académie Royale. He travelled to Rome in 1772, remaining there until 1775. Returning to Paris, he was approved (agréé) by the Académie Royale in 1782 with the Birth of Louis XIII (Pau, Mus. N. Château) and received (reçu) as a full Academician in 1784 with Ulysses and Philoctetes (Bordeaux, Mus. B.-A.). He showed regularly at the Salon from 1785 to 1807. His output was meagre and diminished with time and lack of success. His technique was laborious, especially when he sought to capture a particular movement or facial expression, and his pictures suffer from cold lighting and a limited colour range. His paintings often have subjects rare among his contemporaries’ work, for example Virgil Reading the Aeneid (1787; London, N.G.), and Pauline, Wife of Seneca, Recalled to Life (1793; Bordeaux, Mus. B.-A.). His ‘dramatic sentimentalism’ also drew inspiration from the theatrical repertory: for instance from Pierre Corneille, with Rodogune (1791; Boston, MA, Mus. F.A.), and from Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, with Rhadamistus and Zenobia (1806; untraced). Taillasson painted several large compositions such as Hero and Leander (1798; Bordeaux, Mus. B.-A.), the Death of Olympias (1799; Brest, Mus. Mun.) and Berenice Reproaching Ptolemy (1802; Detroit, MI, Inst. A.). His work as a draughtsman, which is still little known, may be seen in a number of museums (Montpellier, Mus. Fabre; Nantes, Mus. B.-A.; Nancy, Mus. B.-A.; Quimper, Mus. B.-A.; Vienna, Albertina).
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