Meeting Bouguereau

Adolphe Bouguereau "The Virgin with Angels"

Over the next few weeks, I will be introducing you to three of my favorite painters or artists. The first one is William-Adolphe Bouguereau (November 30, 1825 - August 19, 1905) who was a French academic painter. Bouguereau was a staunch traditionalist whose realistic genre paintings and mythological themes were modern interpretations of classical subjects with a heavy emphasis on the female human body.

Adolphe Bouguereau "The Holy Family"

Although he created an idealized world, his almost photo-realistic style was popular with rich art patrons. He was very famous in his time but today his subject matter and technique receive relatively little attention compared to the popularity of the Impressionists. Bouguereau employed traditional methods of working up a painting, including detailed pencil studies and oil sketches, and his careful method resulted in a pleasing and accurate rendering of the human form. His painting of skin, hands, and feet was particularly admired. Prominent among his subjects are pleasantly depicted nude cherubs, angels and children. Near the end of his life he described his love of his art, "Each day I go to my studio full of joy; in the evening when obliged to stop because of darkness I can scarcely wait for the next morning to come back." He left us 826 paintings.

Adolphe Bouguereau "The Motherland"