Everything French
Lot 50:
Description
Keywords: Classic Art, French Painter, 19th Century, Realism, Fine Art, Romanticism, Academic Painting, Earth Tones, Chiaroscuro, Classical, Melancholic, Peasant Subject, Somber, Stone Background, Human Anatomy, Allegory
Manner of William-Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825-1905), Seated Woman, no apparent signature.
When William Bouguereau was very young, he was sent to school at Pons where he showed his aptness for drawing. When older he was sent to Bordeaux to a business house, but attended art school for a couple of hours each day. He won a prize over all the daily art students and decided to become a painter.
First, he went to his uncle, a priest in Saintouge, for instruction and painted portraits of people of that region. He then went to France, entering the studio of Picot and later l’Ecole des Beaux Arts where he made rapid progress. He won the grand prize in 1850, then went to Rome where he proved to be also a good decorative and mural painter. He was criticized for his pretty faces and conventional execution but had a delightful charming approach, accurate drawing knowledge, taste, and refinement. He became a member of the institute and an Officer of the Legion of Honour.
Tastes changed and eventually, Bouguereau’s art was treated as schlock and was despised and rejected. Unlike Expressionism, Cubism, and Abstraction, which became the "right art". Then suddenly, conditions changed and Bouguereau was shown with Eakins, Homer, Cole, Bingham and West. It reached the point where prices for his paintings reached millions because the demand for his works was immensely strong.
Measurement: Sight: 60 x 38 1/2 in. (152.4 x 97.8 cm.); Frame: 68 1/4 x 46 1/2 in. (173.4 x 118.1 cm.)
Category: 10
Condition: Some wear and minor loss. Dented canvas left side
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