William Bouguereau was the most significant professor and representative of the French neo-classical painting around 1870.
Born on November 30, 1825 in La Rochelle.
Died on October 19, 1905 in La Rochelle.
After some years of apprenticeship spent in Bordeaux and the independent study of nature, William Bouguereau studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. His portrait displays quickly became popular and earned him several awards and medals at the Paris Salon. Three years after the French Revolution, he was given the opportunity of a stay in Rome, which, those days, among academic painter circles was almost considered as the foundation of the apprenticeship as the artist was given the opportunity to copy the works of artistic idols like Raffael and Michelangelo directly. Influences by theses masters, William Bouguereau starts to paint paintings with mythological, allegorical content. His figures impress the Paris public by their lovely, idealized appearance. With the painting "The Birth of Venus", the depictions of nude figures get more and more into the focus of the artist who was highly praised for his harmonious color combination, the sophisticated composition and the initially quite screwed posture of his figures. In addition to this great subject, which, however, also led critics to dub his naked women as mere pin-up girls and little porcelain dolls, Bouguereau dedicated his work with great enthusiasm to the depiction of mythological children like "Psyche and Cupid", which, if you look closer, could in no way have been painted with the help of real models. |
 |
|
Oil Paintings