
Adolphe-William Bouguereau Painting Reproductions Gallery 3 of 10
1825-1905French Academic Classicism Painter
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (November 30, 1825 - August 19, 1905) was a French academic painter.
Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle.
A student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he won the Prix de Rome in 1850 and his realistic genre paintings and mythological themes were exhibited at the annual exhibitions of the Paris Salon for his entire working life. Although he fell into disregard in the early 20th century, due perhaps to his staunch opposition to the Impressionists, there is a new appreciation for his work. In his lifetime, Bouguereau painted eight hundred and twenty-six paintings.
In his own time, Bouguereau was considered to be one of the greatest painters in the world. In 1900, his contemporaries Degas and Monet reportedly named him as most likely to be remembered as the greatest 19th century French painter by the year 2000, although with Degas' famous trenchant wit, and the aesthetic tendencies of the two Impressionists, it is possible the statement was meant as an ironic comment on the taste of the future public. Bouguereau's works were eagerly bought, at high prices, especially by American millionaires. After about 1920, Bouguereau fell into disrepute. Some assert this may have been consciously engineered by the new "art expert establishment", who resented his former opposition to new developments in painting, but it is likely that more profound societal factors were instrumental to this enormous shift in taste and sensibility. For decades, his name was not even mentioned in encyclopedias. Today, over one hundred museums throughout the world exhibit his works.
At a rather advanced age, Bouguereau was married for the second time, to fellow artist Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau, one of his pupils. He also used his influence to open many French art institutions to women for the first time, including the Academie francaise.
He died in La Rochelle.
229 Paintings of Bouguereau
Mead Art Museum at Amherst College Massachusetts USA
Work Interrupted (Penelope)
$1964
$48.07
National Museum of Art Havana
Evening Mood
$1045
$48.07
Seattle Art Museum Washington USA
Portrait of Madame la Comtesse de Cambaceres
$1947
$48.07
Private Collection
The Shell
$1801
$48.07
Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts Paris France
Zenobia Found by Shepherds on the Banks
$3688
$48.07
Joslyn Art Museum Omaha USA
The Return of Spring
$3242
$50.82
Private Collection
The Abduction of Psyche
$1854
$49.95
Private Collection
Cupid and Psyche as Children
$1783
$53.62
Private Collection
At the Edge of the River
$1630
$48.07
Collection of Fred and Sherry Ross New Jersey USA
Jeunes Bohemiennes (Young Gypsies)
$1670
$53.03
Private Collection
Just a Taste
$1618
$53.32
Private Collection
Cupid with a Butterfly
$1630
$48.07
Springfield Museum of Art Ohio USA
The Knitter
$1687
Rahr-West Art Museum Wisconsin USA
The Little Sulk
$1762
$83.44
Philbrook Museum of Art Tulsa USA
Pastourelle (Shepherdess)
$1945
$50.68
Collection of Fred and Sherry Ross New Jersey USA
The Little Beggar
$1597
Private Collection
Douleur d'amour (Elegy)
$1987
$75.91
Private Collection
A Little Coaxing
$1722
$54.65
Private Collection
The Spinner
$1670
$48.07
Dahesh Museum of Art New York USA
Young Girl Going to the Fountain
$1597
$54.38
Appleton Museum of Art at Florida College Ocala USA
The Little Knitter
$1618
$48.07
Private Collection
The Virgin, the Baby Jesus and St. John the Baptist
$2469
$48.07
Private Collection
The Heart's Awakening
$2316
$81.73