In 1844 he went to Paris, where he studied under Eugène Delacroix and Thomas Couture. It was not until a number of years later when the government of France acquired one of his works that he gained any sort of wide recognition. Although he studied with some of the romanticists, his work is seen as symbolist in nature and he is credited with influencing an entire generation. In turn, one of his proteges was Georges de Feure.

In Montmartre, he had an affair with one of his models, Suzanne Valadon, who would become one of the leading female artists of the day.

He is noted for painting murals, several of which can be seen at the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) in Paris and Poitiers, the Sorbonne, and the Paris Panthéon, as well as in the United States at the Boston, Massachusetts Public Library. His easel paintings can be found in many American and European galleries. Some of them are:

Death and the Maiden The Dream The Poor Fisherman Vigilance The Meditation Mary Magdalene at St Baume Saint Genoveva Young Girls at the Seaside Mad Woman at the Edge of the Sea Hope Kneeling nude woman, viewed from back He was president and co-founder in 1890 of the National Society of Fine Arts (Société Nationale des Beaux Arts)(1)

Puvis de Chavannes prize (Prix Puvis de Chavannes)

Awarded from 1926 by the National Society of Fine Arts (Société Nationale des Beaux Arts), Prix Puvis de Chavannes consists in a retrospective exhibition of the main works of the prizewinning artist, in Paris. During the twenteenth century, this exhibition was located at the Grand Palais or the Musée d'Art Moderne.

Most famous awarded painters: 1941: Wilhem Van Hasselt, 1944: Jean Gabriel Domergue, 1952: Tristan Klingsor, 1955: Georges Delplanque, 1957: Albert Decaris, 1958: Jean Picard Le Doux, 1963: Maurice Boitel, 1966: Pierre Gaillardot, 1968:Pierre-Henry, 1969:Louis Vuillermoz, 1970: Daniel du Janerand, 1971: Jean-Pierre Alaux; 1975: Jean Monneret, 1987: André Hambourg(1).