Figure 1.-- Bouguereau was widely regarded by contemporaries as one of the great French artists. Breton genre scenes, including peasant children, are well represented in his body of work. A good example is the painting here on the Metropolitan collection (New York). Bouguereau painred this work in 1871. It is entitled "Frère et Soeur Bretons" (Breton Brother and Sister). The young boy is wearing a dress as his elder sister. Notice the destinctive headwear. As was common at the time, the children are barefoot.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle in 1825. We know very little about his childhood at this time. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was awarded the Prix de Rome (1850). He is noted for very realistic genre paintings and mythological themes. He was a fixture at the annual exhibitions of the Paris Salon. Bouguereau was widely regarded by contemporaries as one of the great French artists. Breton genre scenes, including peasant children, are well represented in his body of work. A good example is the painting here on the Metropolitan collection (New York). Bouguereau painred this work in 1871. It is entitled "Frère et Soeur Bretons" (Breton Brother and Sister). The young boy is wearing a dress as his elder sister. Notice the destinctive headwear. As was common at the time, the children are barefoot. As realistic art went out of favor his work declined in popularity. This was increasingly the case after the turn of the 20h century, He criticized the Impressionists his entire life. Perhaps because the impressionists became so widely regarded, Bouguereau and other realistic artists began to be shunned by the art establishment. Of course the rise of photography was another factor as it competed with realistic portature. And realistic art was not considered chic by art expers. It is more difficult to assess popular attitudes and why tastes change. For years art historians listing great French artists would not even mention Bouguereau, rather strange given his prominance during the 19th century. The art world in recent years has begun to reappraise his work. A large number of major art museums have his works in their collection. He was amazingly prolific, prouducing an almost unbelievable 826 paintings. Bouguereau died in La Rochelle during 1905.

Childhood

William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle in 1825. We know very little about his childhood at this time. The family of wine and olive oil merchants focused on business without any particular interest in art and aesthetics. The family was not rich and thus lacish sums were not available for the children. William would have surely entered the family business, except for the intervention of an uncle who took a special liking to the boy.

Education

Public education in France lagged behind that of Germzany, at least the Protestant states like Prussia. Thus William after learing to read and do his sums probably would have ended his education. His uncle Eugène, a curate, saw something special in William. He instructed the boy in classical and biblical subjects. Uncle Eugène saw to it that William to go to high school. Willian demonstrated artistic talent from an early point and an educated client of his father convinced him to send William to the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux. There he destinguished himself. He wascawarded first prize in figure painting for a depiction of Saint Roch. He earned a little noney by designing decorative labels for jams and preserves. His uncle helped him obtain commissions from parishioners to paint portraits. These would not be vthe peasants he would later paint, but vwell established citizens. His aunt matched the rekatively modest anounts he was paid. This gave him thev money needed to go to Paris and study at the École des Beaux-Arts. To help him with naturalistic depictiions, he sat in on anatomical dissections. He also studies historical costumes and archeology. He worked in the studio of François-Edouard Picot, where he worked in the academic style. Academic painting gave special status to historical and classical mythological subjects, Bouguereau won the coveted Prix de Rome with his "Zenobia Found by Shepherds on the Banks of the Araxes" (1850). The prize allowed him to stay at the Villa Medici in Rome, Italy. Here he received further lessons and was ablevto view the great Renaissance artists and their master works.

Career

Bouguereau was a producr of and a leading pratictioner of the vthe traditional Academic style that dominated French art at mid-century. He thus exhibited at the annual exhibitions of the Paris Salon his entire career. This of course was the Parus Salon the impressionists rebelled against. He is noted for very realistic genre paintings and mythological themes. He was a fixture at the annual exhibitions of the Paris Salon. Bouguereau was widely regarded by contemporaries as one of the great French artists.

Family

Bouguereau married Marie-Nelly Monchablon (1856). They had five children.

Body of Work

Much of Bouguereau's work was classical and genre scenes. Interest in the classics presumably came from his uncle's teaching. He tended to emphasize the female body in his classical works. We are less sure about what sparked his interest in genre scenes. Perhapd as a boy he went with his father into the country side. We note a number of Breton genre scenes, including peasant children, are well represented in his body of work. A good example is the painting here on the Metropolitan collection (New York). Bouguereau painred this work in 1871. It is entitled "Frère et Soeur Bretons" (Breton Brother and Sister) (figure 1). We note a similar painting also done in 1871. This one shows a peasant mother with her son. A reader vtells us, "The lack of clothing can be an aesthetic element, but it has also an historic base. It was not uncommon in the 19th and even the early-20th century for little peasant children not to wear clothing suring the hot summer days. There are evidences for Italian countryside, but I think that in France and other European Countries were the same." A large number of major art museums have his works in their collections. He was amazingly prolific, prouducing an almost unbelievable 826 paintings.

Clothing

Beyond artistic questions, Bouguereau has left a marvelous record of clothing worn in the mid- and late-19th century. The scenes are certainly idealized, but the garnents are depicted in great detailn and clarity. Thus what the impressionists hated about Bouguereau makes him a particularly valuable source of information about fashion and clothing. We do not know how common peasant dress was, but believe it was fairly common before World War I. And Bouguereau has left a detailed record of it. The young boy with his elder sister is wearing a dress (figure 1). Notice the destinctive headwear. As was common at the time, the children are barefoot.

Popularity

As realistic art went out of favor his work declined in popularity. This was increasingly the case after the turn of the 20h century, He criticized the Impressionists his entire life. Perhaps because the impressionists became so widely regarded, Bouguereau and other realistic artists began to be shunned by the art establishment. Of course the rise of photography was another factor as it competed with realistic portature. And realistic art was not considered chic by art expers. It is more difficult to assess popular attitudes and why tastes change. For years art historians listing great French artists would not even mention Bouguereau, rather strange given his prominance during the 19th century. The art world in recent years has begun to reappraise his work. Bouguereau died in La Rochelle during 1905.

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Created: 6:04 PM 8/28/2007
Last updated: 4:26 PM 12/21/2009