When one asks about a William-Adolphe Bouguereau painting, an art connoisieur will immediately comment on the wide range of paintings that this artist had produced in his lifetime. In fact, William-Adolphe Bouguereau is known for having one of the largest bodies of work ever created – with more than eight hundred paintings accounted for. Many of them are masterpieces.
Born in the late 19th century, William-Adolphe Bouguereau is well known for his realistic paintings. His paintings usually embodied mythological themes – paying particular attention to the female body. Early on, Williamodolphe showed signs of artistic talent already, so his father sent him to study art in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, France. There, he won top honors for his painting of Saint Roch. While he was in art school, Williamodolphe had to make a living using his artistic skills – painting labels for preserves or jams. His career as a painter took off when he was commissioned to paint portraits for the parishioners of his uncle, a Roman Catholic priest. Eventually, Williamadolphe studied academic painting, which placed emphasis on historical and mythological subjects.
One popular William-Adolphe Bouguereau painting is the Zenobia Found by Sheperds on the Banks of the Araxes. This painting had won him the Prix de Rome at a young age of 26. As a reward, he could spend a year at the Villa Medici in Rome. He took more art lessons during that year and was able to study Renaissance art, Roman and Greek art, as well as classical literature.
A William-Adolphe Bouguereau painting usually depicts mythological and religious themes. He concentrated in showing the female human form, and he was able to execute this excellently. Bouguereau worked on his paintings using oil sketches and detailed pencil studies. Through this method, he was able to execute impressive details in his subjects. He was admired for his execution of the human extremities – feet, hands as well as skin. All these were depicted beautifully in his paintings of nymphs, goddesses, and bathers. Many of his followers had commissioned him to work or decorate their own homes.
A William-Adolphe Bouguereau painting cannot be acquired at a cheap price. In fact, at present, his work can be bought at around $4,000,000. Should you want to view his works, there are public collections that feature them. Seeing a William-Adolphe Bouguereau painting will definitely be something that you should experience at least once in your life – it will be a delight to see his mastery of art, and of life depicted so accurately.
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