Paintings Chart the Course of William Bouguereau's Career

An Artist's Evolution

During his lifetime, William Bouguereau enjoyed extraordinary success, with wealthy patrons and devoted followers in Europe and America. This Masters Week we present a diverse group of works painted when the artist was in his twenties, travelling and training in Italy, through his fifties when reaching the heights of his international fame. Together, these remarkable compositions vividly illustrate Bouguereau’s life-long, brilliant skill as painter, influential technique, and evolving understanding of the art-buying public’s taste. From an early, rare self-portrait painted in 1853 to the iconic peasant children of Au bord du ruisseau (image left) of 1879, this series is a remarkable opportunity to follow the artist over three decades as he became one of the most important artists of the nineteenth century.

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Self-Portrait

At age 27, William Bouguereau began work on this self-portrait in early November 1852 while nearing the end of his stay in Rome, which had been a profound, foundational experience in his artistic development. In 1850, Bouguereau was awarded the Prix de Rome, providing him the opportunity to travel and study throughout Italy. Training was demanding and expectations were high for artists in residence at the Villa Medici (the Roman home of the French Academy) and in response Bouguereau developed the rigorous, almost fanatical working habits that awed colleagues, patrons, and critics throughout his career. Bouguereau’s indefatigable efforts in Italy earned him the nickname “Sisyphus,” and his determination and talent are captured in his self-portrait. The focused gaze and pressed lips, soft skin and subtle shadow of a growing goatee portray the maturing artist at a pivotal moment in his career.

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Two Sketches for the Chapel of Saint Louis at Sainte-Clotilde Decorations: Prudence, Justice and Temperance; Saint Louis Dispensing Justice; Saint Louis Made Prisoner at Mansourah and Faith, Hope and Charity; Saint Louis Caring for the Sick; Saint Louis' Last Communion

Bouguereau received important decorative commissions throughout his career. In 1856, soon after returning to Paris from Rome, he was invited to paint the Saint Louis chapel walls at the Basilique Sainte-Clotilde. While not financially lucrative, public works garnered publicity: the commissions were the result of a rigorous and competitive selection process and the finished, often large-scale works were widely accessible. When Bouguereau completed his decorations in 1859, he was still in his mid-thirties, and the Chapel of Saint Louis is a testament to his early understanding of the power of public decoration and the development of his indelible visual vocabulary.

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Study of the Dog of Homѐre et son guide

No important American Gilded Age collection was complete without a Bouguereau. Homѐre et son guide was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1874 and was purchased soon after by the New York collector Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-1876), who hung it in his grand home. When Stewart’s art collection was sold in 1887, the painting was acquired by Milwaukee’s Frederick Layton (1827-1919), who made it a highlight of his Layton Art Gallery — which later became part of the Milwaukee Art Museum, where the painting hangs today. While the head of Homer was studied from a cast of an antique bust in a Naples museum, the dog was observed from life, with this one of two known studies. The characteristic focus of the artist in his tireless preparatory work is evidenced in this study in which the barking canine is virtually identical in the completed project.

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A Young Woman with a Fan

With his growing reputation, Bouguereau was able to select from among the most beautiful models in Paris. His sitters needed to be as exceptional as his paintings, and finding the ideal face and figure was not always an easy process. Through a series of sketches and drawings, Bouguereau would first work out form, light, and shadow before turning to paint a study of the model’s head. While the artist considered oil studies a critical step in his process, he did not intend them to be seen outside his studio. Yet in its mix of finish and more expressive elements, Young Woman with a Fan reveals Bouguereau’s brilliant eye and technique.

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Au bord du ruisseau

Like many of his best compositions, Au bord du ruisseau was sent to his Paris dealer Goupil’s New York associates, Knoedler & Co., who were responsible for placing the artist’s work in prominent Gilded Age collections from the Northeast through the Midwest. Painted in 1879, a characteristically prolific year for the artist, Au bord du ruisseau captures two young girls as they prepare to wade into the water wetting the sand along the foreground. The work is remarkable in its large scale, which allows for an intimate study of his models’ complicated, yet casual, poses, set against a vast landscape. Au bord du ruisseau is among Bouguereau’s most masterful compositions of country life — and continued to propel his international reputation through the turn of the century.

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