William Bouguereau

Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, L'art en marge des grands mouvements : salons et visionnaires de 1880 à 1930, March 28, 1974, lot 31, illustrated
Sale: Ader Picard & Tajan, Paris, November 22, 1987, lot 366, illustrated
Acquired at the above sale

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is a sketch. Although it is finished in many ways, it is quite quickly painted in some areas, such as the background and clothing. The face, hand and neck are much more resolved and are arguably finished. The painting is more or less clean. There is a retouch on the left side of the nose, one in the lip and one above the mouth to the left. These do not address damage from abrasion or staining, and the paint layer in general is in more or less untouched condition. It is recommended that the work be cleaned and varnished with a slightly less matte varnish; the retouches could then be reconsidered and more accurately applied.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

In a photograph from 1903 William Bouguereau is seen in his Paris studio, posed before his large nude, La vague (1903, private collection) and the present work known today as L’été (fig. 1). Rather than a “candid” image, the photograph is a carefully staged image of the master “at work,” a palette with oils prepared sits on the floor while a clay pot holds dozens of brushes at the ready.  Painted in 1901 (and sold in 1903), La vague is the artist’s finished composition and L’été the work in progress, evidencing the artist’s masterful technique and specific vision. Like so many of the ébauches and esquisse that have emerged from the artist’s studio, the present work’s loosely sketched foundation of pale blue and purple costume and well-modeled face and hands evidence the artist’s process. As was Bouguereau’s practice he would have completed a number of compositional drawings and smaller oil sketches before turning to canvas. The relatively high level of finish of the model suggests the artist had a clear conception of the realized work or possibly that L’été is not a study but an unfinished composition (there are no recorded paintings by the artist that would seem based on the present work) and looks no different than it did 110 years ago. While Bouguereau did not intend sketches or incomplete works to be publically displayed he clearly felt proud enough of L’été to be photographed with it—an unsurprising choice given that in its current state the painting is remarkably compelling as the laurel-wreathed muse seems to emerge from the canvas.  

The date of the photograph and La vague suggests that L’été was painted around 1901-3 and in this period over a dozen of Bouguereau’s paintings have mythological or classically inspired subjects from Le jeune frère (1900, location unknown), in which a sister in Classical garb wearing a laurel wreath holds a baby to Jeune prêtresse (1902, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, New York), a full length view of a brunette model in purple toga standing on a mosaic floor.  While the title L’été may not have been Bouguereau’s own, it is fitting for the composition, the model an allegory of the season with her vibrant lemons; the fruit appears in a number of the artist’s paintings from 1899, when he lived in Menton, a small town on the French Riviera.