Editing Gustave Moreau (section)

=== Salon success and mid career (1860–1880)===
[[File:Alexandrine Dureux. by Jules-Élie Delaunay (ca. 1865), graphite, 16.1 x 12.5 cm., Gustave Moreau Museum.jpg|thumb|left|120 px|''Alexandrine Dureux.'' by [[Jules-Élie Delaunay]] (c. 1865), graphite, 16.1 x 12.5 cm., Gustave Moreau Museum]]

Moreau never married and very little information is known about his personal and romantic relationships. In the past some biographers speculated that he was gay, largely inferred from the fact that he was a bachelor, a lack of information regarding women in his life, and the sometimes effeminate or androgynous appearance of male figures in some of his paintings. However, more recent research and documents revealed a relationship with Adelaide-Alexandrine Dureux (b. Guise, 8 November 1835 – d. Paris, March 1890) that lasted over 30 years. Moreau apparently met Alexandrine soon after his return from Italy and in following years he produced many drawings and watercolors of her, as well as romantic caricatures of the two of them walking on clouds together. He subsidized an apartment for her on Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette, just a few blocks from the townhome where he lived with his parents. Their relationship was very discreet and known by only a few in his closest circle. His mother was aware of their relationship and apparently fond of her, as indicated by a stipulation in her will that provided an annuity for Alexandrine should Gustave die before her. He designed her tombstone, engraved with their interlaced initials, A and G, which is located near his family plot where he was interred with his parents.<ref name="Mathieu (1994)" />{{rp|156–161  p.}}<ref name="Selz (1979)" />{{rp|48–51, 93 p.}}<ref>{{cite book | last = Kaplan | first = Julius |author-link=Julius Kaplan | title = Gustave Moreau | publisher = Little Brown & Company | year = 1974 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/gustavemoreau0000more/page/7 7, 55] | isbn = 0-8212-0628-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/gustavemoreau0000more/page/7 }}</ref>

''[[Oedipus and the Sphinx]]'', one of his first Symbolist paintings, won a medal at the [[Paris Salon|Salon]] in 1864. Its style  revealed his close study of the work of [[Vittore Carpaccio]], [[Andrea Mantegna|Mantegna]] and [[Giovanni Bellini]].<ref name="Kaplan_Oxford">Julius Kaplan. "Moreau, Gustave". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press.</ref> Its firm outlines and detailed modeling are typical of the works that brought him success with critics and the public for the remainder of the decade.<ref name="Kaplan_Oxford"/> Moreau quickly gained a reputation for eccentricity. One commentator said Moreau's work was "like a pastiche of [[Andrea Mantegna|Mantegna]] created by a German student who relaxes from his painting by reading [[Schopenhauer]]".<ref name=ELS>[[Edward Lucie-Smith|Lucie-Smith, Edward.]] (1972) ''Symbolist Art''. London: [[Thames & Hudson]], p. 63. {{ISBN|0500201250}}</ref> The painting currently resides in the permanent collection at the [[New York Metropolitan Museum of Art]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Winkfield|first=Trevor|title=A Letter to Bryan Osburn from Trevor Winkfield|journal=The Brooklyn Rail|date=April 2012|url=http://brooklynrail.org/2012/04/artseen/a-letter-to-bryan-osburn-from-trevor-winkfield}}</ref>

In the 1870s, disturbed by criticism that his work had become formulaic, he stopped exhibiting for a few years while he concentrated on renewing his art. In 1876 he completed ''[[Salome Dancing before Herod]]'', which announced a more painterly style that would characterize his later works.<ref name="Kaplan_Oxford"/>

He was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1875 and was promoted to an Officier de la Légion d'honneur in 1883.