William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body. During his life, he enjoyed significant popularity in France and the United States, was given numerous official honors, and received top prices for his work. As the quintessential salon painter of his generation, he was reviled by the Impressionist avant-garde. By the early twentieth century, Bouguereau and his art fell out of favor with the public, due in part to changing tastes. In the 1980s, a revival of interest in figure painting led to a rediscovery of Bouguereau and his work. He finished 822 known paintings, but the whereabouts of many are still unknown.
La Danse is an oil-on-canvas painting created by the French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1856. The painting is currently held in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
The Return of Spring is a painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau created in 1886. It is among the more well-known of his works. It is currently in the collection of the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, and was acquired in 1951 as the gift of Francis T. B. Martin. The painting was brought to Omaha shortly after it was completed by George W. Lininger. Lininger was an art collector and private gallery owner who routinely opened his gallery to the public for no charge.
The Knitting Girl is an oil-on-canvas painting executed in 1869 by the French academic artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau. It is currently held in the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States.
Nymphs and Satyr is an oil on canvas painting created by the French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1873.
Evening Mood is an 1882 painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, now in the collection of the Havana's Museum of Fine Arts, in Cuba.
Alone in the World is an oil-on-canvas painting created by nineteenth-century French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Although the exact year of creation is unknown, Theo van Gogh acquired it in 1867 so it may be placed in the early part of Bouguereau's career.
The Shepherdess, also known as The Little Shepherdess, is a painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau completed in 1889. The title is taken from the Southern French dialect. The painting depicts an idyllic, pastoral scene of a lone young woman in peasant attire posed for the artist, balancing a stick across her shoulders, standing barefooted in the foreground. In the background are oxen grazing in a field.
The Bohemian is a painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau completed in 1890. It depicts a barefooted young woman sitting on a concrete bench on the south bank of the Seine across from Notre Dame de Paris resting a violin in her lap. Her right arm is resting on her thigh while the palm of her left hand is pressed down on her left knee so that she does not lean on the violin. Her hands are clasped with the fingers pointing forward while her shoulders are wrapped in a shawl dyed maroon and light green, and she is wearing a gray dress that extends to her ankles. The bow of the violin has been stuck through diagonally under the fingerboard. To her right is a maple tree.
Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau was an American academic and salon painter, who was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. She was an American expatriate who died in Paris where she had lived most of her life. She studied in Paris under the figurative painter Hugues Merle (1823–1881), the well-known salon painter Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1836–1911), and finally under William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905). After Bouguereau's wife died, Gardner became his paramour and after the death of his mother, who bitterly opposed the union, she married him in 1896. She adopted his subjects, compositions, and even his smooth facture, channeling his style so successfully that some of her work might be mistaken for his. In fact, she was quoted as saying, "I know I am censured for not more boldly asserting my individuality, but I would rather be known as the best imitator of Bouguereau than be nobody!"
The Young Shepherdess is an 1885 painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905). It is owned by the San Diego Museum of Art.
The Goose Girl is an 1891 painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, a French academic painter. The Goose Girl is one of many examples that Bouguereau specialized in paintings of beautiful women and innocent, barefoot, young peasant girls.
The Art Renewal Center (ARC) is a non-profit, educational organization, which hosts an online museum dedicated to realist art. The ARC was founded by New Jersey businessman, author, and art collector Fred Ross.
The Elder Sister is an oil-on-canvas painting created in 1869 by the French academic artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau. It was acquired in 1992 by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as a gift. According to the museum website, the painting was the gift of an anonymous lady in memory of her father. Since then, The Elder Sister has been a part of the permanent collection of the museum and is placed in its "Arts of Europe" section. It has become one of the most notable highlights among the museum's collection of paintings.
Première rêverie, also known in English as Whisperings of Love, is a painting by nineteenth-century French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau. The work was completed in 1889 and is held at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Rêve de printemps is a 1901 painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. The painting is an allegory of spring, it shows a young woman sitting in a forest surrounded by three small amores who crown her with a wreath of spring flowers as déesse du printemps.
Gabrielle Cot is a portrait oil on canvas painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau from 1890. Gabrielle Cot was the daughter of the French painter Pierre Auguste Cot, the most notable pupil of Bouguereau. This painting was one of the only non-commissioned paintings he ever painted.
The Virgin with Angels, also known as The Song of the Angels is an oil painting executed in 1881 by the French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Its dimensions are 213.4 × 152.4 cm. It is now in the Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale, California.
Rest is an oil-on-canvas painting of 1879 by the French academic artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau. It is now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. It depicts a young mother with her children in the shade of a tree, with the dome of St Peter's Basilica in Rome in the background. The composition recalls paintings of the Holy Family by Raphael. The work is signed at the bottom left.
The Oreads is an oil painting by the French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau, painted in 1902. Its dimensions are 236 × 182 cm.
