The Early Art of William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905), famous French Academy Painter

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[mairdie]

Bouguereau was the epitome of a French academy painter. Classically trained and meticulous in his work, he won awards and commanded high prices for his art. He painted over 600 paintings, which appear in museums around the world. Heavy on nudes, and peaceful and beautiful women and children, THIS type of art is what the Impressionists were rebelling against. Thomas Campion's poem, "The Peaceful Western Wind" is sung by Shannon Mercer.

[mairdie]

My earliest love of art came from a book of Academy painters, including Bouguereau, owned by my mother and grandmother before her.

Master Paintings of the World, Dupont Vicars, 1902

Vicars says of Bouguereau:

"The greatest modern master of figure painting, at least in the academic sense, William Adolphe Bouguereau, was born at La Rochelle, in the Gironde, in 1825. When he was seventeen years old, he had saved enough out of his earnings to carry him to Paris and support him there for a year. On this capital he became a pupil of Picot, and in 1843 entered as a student into the Ecole des Beaux Arts, until in 1850 he won the great prize scholarship known as the Prix de Rome, which entitled him to study four years in Italy at the expense of the Government. He became an Officer of the Legion of Honor. He was elected a member of the Institute. He was made honorary member of all the great art academies of Europe. He was loaded with medals, until they formed a unique collection in themselves."

1869, The Crab

1875, Art Institute of Chicago, Girl with a pomegranate

[mairdie]

PING to early William-Adolphe Bouguereau

[Crolis]

I’m by no means that skilled or knowledgeable about art, but I really like Bouguereau. His paintings seem to channel that Renaissance quality of celebrating his subjects as they are. It’s not abstract, amorphous and seemingly meaningless like a lot of modern art.

To me, it depicts the real, and the mundane, and seems to express gratitude for the things that we often take for granted whether it be a moment of play with a crab, or a simple pomegranate, in these examples.

[mairdie]

Your instincts are wonderful. I love Bouguereau. I needed him after the blood and guts of Caravaggio. I understand that Caravaggio made a greater contribution to the development of schools of art, but Bouguereau makes me feel good.

And for all those gentle paintings, he was having a hard time of it. He lost his first wife and outlived 4 of his 5 children. Lot of TB in that family. And he seems to have been a bit of a mommy’s boy. But, still, he made us feel happy.

From Wikipedia:
At the age of 12, Bouguereau went to Mortagne to stay with his uncle Eugène, a priest, and developed a love of nature, religion and literature. In 1839, he was sent to study the priesthood at a Catholic college in Pons. Here he was taught to draw and paint by Louis Sage, who had studied under Ingres.
...
Bouguereau became a student at the École des Beaux-Arts.[4] To supplement his formal training in drawing, he attended anatomical dissections and studied historical costumes and archeology.

[leaning conservative]

Both of these are so beautiful. The crab is just beautiful. So lifelike.....her fingernails are completely lifelike. It is also very soothing & calming. A quiet & beautiful meditation.
Thank you.

[mairdie]

You’re most welcome. That’s just how I felt. When you read in Wiki that he studied anatomy, it makes sense that he understood the muscles and bones, and he saw what he looked at. When I took a life sketching class at U of Chicago, the teacher had us draw the model without skin, and another time upside down. The hardest was to spend 5 whole minutes drawing one arm. You end up exaggerating the small contour changes and seeing every bump and indentation that I had never thought about existing. I have a feeling that Bouguereau knew well exactly what that arm would have looked like.

[SunkenCiv]

There's a need for a long, long soundtrack to cover *all* of Bouguereau!.

[mairdie]

I'm doing the later work to

Frais-et-Gaillard-variations--Giovanni-Gabrielli-3min-43sec

Just a little tired to start just now. It's got the same gentle mood.

There's SO many pieces and none of them are bad. Some are just more spectacular.

Here's what's coming.

1899, Virgin of the Lilies

1904, Far Niente

That last is really showing an Impressionism influence. And it's not even old age, as he still has some very realistic hordes of flying nudes in the same year.

[poconopundit]

PING! Splendid pics and the links. Thanks.

[mairdie]

You’re most sincerely welcome. Bouguereau just makes me happy. It’s such a shame that he’s not as well known as the art rebels - Monet, Renoir, etc.

[IronJack]

Reminiscent of John Everett Millais.

[Captain Compassion]

Love the faces. The artist lets me see them. This is one of my favorites.

[Jane Austen]

I also like him.

[KarlInOhio]

Here's the one I've seen most often.

c.1895, The Song of the Nightingale, Dayton Art Institute

Photography probably killed the desire for representational art. Anyone could get a photographic portrait, so they didn't need to pay for a painted portrait. Bouguereau and Sargent were probably the last of the great realist artists.

[Auntie Mame]

An artist friend has often waxed eloquent on Bouguereau’s skill with skin tones.

[mairdie]

I actually don’t know any of the women and children except from research. I was raised on Academy nudes, and THOSE I know well. But given this site, I’m not posting those pieces. These following links are to the pieces that I can’t remember a day of my life NOT knowing.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_%281825-1905%29_-_The_Nymphaeum_%281878%29.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_%281825-1905%29_-_Dawn_%281881%29.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Bouguereau-Evening_Mood_1882.jpg

And the image I put up of Calypso, also from my childhood, seems to be the only image of that particular piece by him that’s on the web.

http://www.iment.com/maida/family/mother/vicars/p046.htm

[mairdie]

I’ve been thinking just that thing as I’ve been collecting these. Just amazing skin tones. The other thing I’m noticing is how much damage seems to be in the varnish. I know so little about restoring, but wonder what was happening with the materials of the time.

[mairdie]

I’m noticing how many of them have pointed chins, and wondering if he’s utilizing his family, with familial resemblances, as his models.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, if ya can't enjoy hordes of flying nudes, you're not really an art lover. :^)

[dsc]

I’ve always thought that the final scene in Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ was inspired by B’s Pieta.