Georges GASTÉ (1869-1910) ✿

Georges Gasté (1869 in Paris -1910 in Madurai, India) is a French Orientalist painter and photographer. He received his early art education at the Atelier Colarossi and at age 18 he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux Arts at the Alexandre Cabanel Studio.

On a visit to Morocco, Algeria and Palestine in 1892, he marvelled at the quality of light her observed there. After this, he made the conscious decision to become an Orientalist artist. In 1893, the French Orientalist, Nasreddine Dinet noticed his work and invited him to stay at Bou Saâda in southern Algeria, where Dinet and a small group of French painters had set up an artists' colony

In 1907, he was appointed as the official correspondent of the Orientalist Painters’ Society in India. In 1909, he was given rare permission to spend six months inside the great temple of Madurai. From this privilege, he produced several works, including: Le Bain des Brahmines, now in the collection of the Orsay Museum. He became known as the painter of India.