Octave Tassaert

Born into a family of Flemish origin that had already included several generations of artists, (Nicolas-François) Octave Tassaert was first taught by his father, Jean-Joseph-François Tassaert (1765-ca. 1835), and then by his older brother, Paul (d. 1855), who were both printmakers and print dealers. In 1816 Octave apprenticed with the engraver Alexis-François Girard (1787-1870), then studied at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1817 through 1825, under Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760-1832). Yet, to his great disappointment Tassaert never succeeded in winning the Prix de Rome, nor the Legion...