Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824–1898), French, A master of monumental, dreamlike compositions, this French painter bridged the gap between neoclassicism and symbolism with a distinctive, pared-down aesthetic. His murals and canvases often depicted idyllic, timeless scenes—pale figures drifting through sparse landscapes, their gestures muted yet charged with quiet emotion. Rejecting the detailed realism of his contemporaries, he favored simplified forms and muted tones, creating a sense of poetic detachment. Though his work was sometimes dismissed as overly decorative during his lifetime, its restrained power influenced generations, from Gauguin’s synthetism to Picasso’s early blue period. Public commissions, like the cycles for the Panthéon and the Sorbonne, showcased his ability to merge allegory with a modern, almost abstract sensibility. Critics debated whether his art was nostalgic or quietly radical, but its haunting stillness left an indelible mark. By stripping away excess, he revealed a world both universal and deeply personal, where myth and modernity coexisted in delicate balance.