A la Fontaine (At the Fountain)
The oil painting, A la Fontaine (At the Fountain), was painted by William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1895. It is a classical painting. William-Adolphe Bouguereau was an excellent painter of human figure. The painting is a good example. In the painting, there are two girls, maybe sisters at the fountain. The older one holds a stean that is used to hold water, who is against the well. The younger one kneels on the ground near the well. She puts one hand on the well and the other on the stean, looking into the stean with curiosity. She wants to know how much water in the stean. Nevertheless, the spout is so small. So difficult is it to find out the level of the water that she opens her eyes widely and raise her head to see. The child's innocence, curiosity, and cuteness are depicted obviously and carefully. For the older sister, she looks at the younger one friendly without any impatience and anxiety. Different figures are presented by different gesture, clothes, especially facial expressions. In their back is wide land with grass and small trees and dull sky. The color used in the painting is not colorful and bright for classicism concentrates much on ration rather than emotions. It also concentrates more on lines rather than colors. So the figure is clear because the line is clear.
Classicism gives us clear and real scenes. It seems happen around us in that the clear lines, the real and simple colors are the important part in the classicism painting. For William-Adolphe Bouguereau, he depicted different human figures through lines and colors. All of them are so real and charming.
