William-Adolphe Bouguereau

"One has to seek Beauty and Truth, Sir! As I always say to my pupils, you have to work to the finish. There's only one kind of painting. It is the painting that presents the eye with perfection, the kind of beautiful and impeccable enamel you find in Veronese and Titian."

-- Adolphe-William Bouguereau, 1895

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (also known as Adolphe William Bouguereau, November 30, 1825 - August 19, 1905) was a French academic painter.

He was born in La Rochelle and studied in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His painting style is Academical Realism. Bouguereau painted human figures - both clothed and nudes - with greatest beauty and took realism to perfection. He died in 1905 in La Rochelle, where he was born.

In his own time, Bouguereau was considered to be one of the greatest painters on earth and his paintings (more than 800) were eagerly bought, at high prices, especially by American millionaires. However he fell into disregard in the 1920s when Academic painting became disregarded in favor of more modern art styles such as Impressionism. For decades, his name was not even mentioned in encyclopedias.

Bouguereau's work, and realistic academic painting in general, found new appreciation and many new fans since the 1990s, such as on the Art Renewal Center website.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau protrait

Information from http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bouguereau/ website Updated: 2001

As a young man, Bouguereau put himself through the Ecole des Beaux-Arts by keeping books for a wine merchant and coloring lithographic labels for a local grocer. In his spare time, late in the evening, he created drawings from memory. This diligence and discipline resulted in an extrordinarily productive artistic life. Bouguereau produced more than seven hundred finished works and achieved a remarkable level of public acclaim and financial success. He never forgot his difficult early days, however; working secretly, he assisted young artists who were struggling as he had to pursue an artistic career in the face of financial difficulties.

Like many painters of the second half of the 19th century, Bouguereau made a careful study of form and technique and steeped himself in classical sculpture and painting. True to his serious and industrious nature, he worked deliberately and industriously: before beginning a painting he would master the history of his subject and complete numerous sketches.

The tenderness with which he portrayed children and domestic scenes, his technical skill and passion for the classics, and his love of rich color are hallmarks of Bouguereau's exquisite paintings.

Gallery

In Penitence (1895)
Love's Resistance (1885)
The Abduction of Psyche - 1895 (50 Kb)
The Virgin With Angels - 1900 (30 Kb)
Crown of Flowers - 1884 (20 Kb)
Cupidon - 1875 (30 Kb); Bridgeman Art Library at London
La Danse - 1850 (50 Kb)
La Bourrique - 1884, Oil on canvas, (4' 5.94" x 3' 3.96"), Berkshire Museum (Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States)
Mood - 1882 (50 Kb)
L'innocence - 1893 (30 Kb)
Invading Cupid's Realm - 1892 (20 Kb)
The First Kiss - 1873 (20 Kb)
The Knitting Girl - 1869 (30 Kb)
The Little Shepherdess - 1891 (30 Kb)
Nymphs and Saytr - 1873 (10 Kb)
Young Priestess - 1902 (30 Kb)
Le Printemps (The Return of Spring) - 1866 (50 Kb)
The Madonna of the Roses - 1903 (80 Kb)
The Shepherdess - 1889 (50 Kb)
The Birth of Venus - 1879 (90 Kb); Oil on canvas, 300 x 218 cm; Musee d'Orsay, Paris -
The Young Shepherdess - 1895 (60 Kb)