Art in CONTEXT

It is easy to understand why, in his day, William Adolphe Bouguereau's art was so appealing and popular. There can be no denying the artist's consummate skill as a painter; Bouguereau's Academic style favors care and perfection in drawing, anatomy, and execution. His colors are usually cool and soothing, his lighting is soft yet clear, and the surface of his paintings are flawlessly smooth. Like the Art Institute's painting, Bouguereau's most popular works are of humble people, especially women and children, caught in moments of quiet reflection or casual, innocent diversion. Here a simple peasant girl - a personification of innocence itself - presumably lost deep in thought, listens to the song of a nightingale perched upon a branch over her shoulder. Her eyes are diverted from the viewer and her thoughts, perhaps of a loved-one not present, are equally hidden.

In 1895, the year Bouguereau painted this work, Claude Monet was obsessively involved in his famous series of facades of the Rouen Cathedral, Paul Gauguin was painting the exotic women of Tahiti in bright, shocking colors and a purposefully "primitive" style, and Vincent van Gogh had been deceased for five years. Compared with paintings of these moderns, until only recently many 20th century art critics found Bouguereau's paintings staid, somewhat artificial, and to the taste of some, saccharin. In our own time, as a broader-based and more fully developed view of 19th century art is formed, we are able to appreciate such seemingly antithetical artistic styles as Academism and Impressionism. Bouguereau, however, scorned the avant-garde, remaining steadfast to, in his words, "the sincere study of nature, the search for the true and the beautiful."

In 1850, four years after he arrived in Paris, Bouguereau won the coveted first prize of the Prix de Rome and was set on course for an extremely successful career. From 1849 until his death, he exhibited regularly at the official Salons, garnering many honors and prizes in Paris and his native city of La Rochelle. In 1876 Bouguereau was a member of the Legion of Honor; that same year he was made a member of the revered and very conservative Institut de France, later serving as its president.

Dominique H. Vasseur

SUGGESTED READINGS:

d'Argencourt, Louise, et al. William Bouguereau. Exhibition catalogue. Montreal: The Montreal Museum of Fine Art, 1984.

Rosenblum, Robert and H.W. Janson. 19th Century Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1984.

---

All content within Access Art is protected by copyright laws of the United States of America and may not be reproduced without the permission of The Dayton Art Institute.