Artist
William Adolphe Bouguereau
French, 1825–1905
William Adolphe Bouguereau was a French Academic Art painter. 40 works are cataloged here, principally at Cleveland Museum of Art, most of them oil paintings. William Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle.
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (French pronunciation:; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body. During his life, he enjoyed significant popularity in France and the United States, was given numerous official honors, and received top prices for his work.
As the quintessential salon painter of his generation, he was reviled by the Impressionist avant-garde. By the early twentieth century, Bouguereau and his art fell out of favor with the public, due in part to changing tastes. In the 1980s, a revival of interest in figure painting led to a rediscovery of Bouguereau and his work. He finished 822 known paintings, but the whereabouts of many are still unknown.
Works by William Adolphe Bouguereau
Collections represented
Artists in a similar vein
