Illusions Gallery Fine Art Prints on Canvas

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

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    Bacchante on a Panther

    


    La Frileuse

    


    

    Schoolgirl

    


    

    A Bunch of Grapes

    


    Young Sheperdess, 1868

    


    Orphan at the Spring

    

The Story Book

    

Maternal Admiation

    


    Cupid on the Lookout

    


    Cupid Flying 

    Over Water

    


    Jewels of 

    the Field

    


    Little Esmeralda

    
 

    A Dryad

    

Wounded Cupid

    


    Little Ophelia

    (La Petite Ophelie) 

    
 

    The Secret

    
 

     Lost Pleiad

    


    Holy Women at 

    the Tomb

    

Dawn

    

Day

    

Evening Mood

    


    Night (Nuit)

    

The Birth 
of Venus

    


    Innocence

    


    The Pony Back Ride

    


    Woman with

    Captive Cupid 

    

Bacchante

    

Song of 
the Angels

    

Virgin and Angels

    

Idyll 

    
 
Childhood Idyll

    

Youth of Bacchus

Biography: William Adolphe Bouguereau

Born in La Rochelle, France, William Adolphe Bouguereau began his studies in 1838 with Louis Sage, 
a student of renowned Romantic painter Ingres. After moving to Bordeaux in 1842, the artist attended 
the cole Municipale de Dessin et de Peinture in Bordeaux.
Bouguereau gained local acclaim as a talented portrait painter before going to Paris in 1846 to attend 
cole des Beaux Arts, noted for its traditional academic approach to painting. In 1850 Bougereau was 
awarded the coveted Prix de Rome and spent four years at the Villa Medici studying Classical and 
Renaissance masterpieces. The potent influence of Classical works is readily apparent in works 
dating after this period.

Bouguereau blended classical poses and subject matter with his own romanticized realism rendered 
in the highly finished style that would come to characterize his paintings. During the 1870s Bouguereau's
focus shifted from historical and genre scenes to lighter, lyrical mythological subjects. Highly regarded 
by his contemporaries, Bouguereau was awarded numerous state commissions and, at the height of 
his career, taught at the Academie Julian and the cole des Beaux Arts.

Throughout his lifetime, Bouguereau staunchly defended the academic tradition of painting and was 
viewed as an obstructionist by the new generation of painters who were experimenting with Impressionism. 
While immensely popular during his lifetime, Bouguereau's reputation suffered with the advent of the 
modernists who viewed his work as mediocre and overly sentimental. Recent exhibitions have focused 
attention on the contribution of mid-19th century artists and Bouguereau's work has enjoyed a 
resurgence in popularity.