Gustave Adolf Mossa belongs to the second generation of symbolism. He was trained by his father Alexis Mossa, image-maker of the Nice Carnival, and studied at the School of Decorative Arts in the same city. At 17, he visited the World Expo 1900 in Paris, where Art Nouveau was very present. This was the beginning of his work, created mainly between 1901 and 1918. After the death of his father, Mossa became the curator of the Nice Museum of Fine Arts. This launched a new phase of his work. Mossa's paintings would combine the legacy of Symbolism, a great knowledge of mythology and poetry (especially Baudelaire) and an uncompromising view of the world. His special technique, a highly searched drawing and a virtuoso use of watercolor or oil, is associated with a vision that remains bound to the carnival world. This explosive encounter gave birth to a world that is both dreamlike and cruel. The great myths (Salome, Delilah, Circe) are reinvented in the light of the contemporary world in a parade-like delirious apotheosis. Mossa, which is a kind of Jean Lorrain painting, represents a quirky symbolism and striking psychological strength and sharp form. The familiar scenes will acquire the force of myth. The jockey modern Oedipus, this socialite sphinx, dominates his big hat and his threatening finger with lust on a racetrack with a dark background.