Bouguereau x 2 Week - "The Oreades" and "The Harvester"

On this Day in the History of Art: Jacob Jordaens born (1593), Nathaniel Hawthorne died (1864), Oscar Wilde released from prison (1893)

This is the last day for Bouguereau week--apologies for the delays in posting! Today I am posting two images of Bouguereau’s work, one piece that I don't like and one that I do.

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1825-1905



The Oreades
Creation Date: 1902
Media: Oil on canvas

To me, this painting is an absurd farce and almost all of these figures look like they were painted from sketches of women that were lying down. Once again, this is a cheap trick available to painters that is difficult to swing without making the figures appear stiff. The figure at the very top of the floating wave of bodies is not anatomically correct and I suspect this is what happened when Bouguereau momentarily abandoned his camera lucida. The subject here is intended to be part of a ring of fairies, which I imagine was a mildly entertaining fantastical idea that was popular at the time.

Bouguereau x 2 Week - "The Little Marauder" and "Pastourelle"

On this Day in the History of Art: Dante Gabriel Rossetti born (1828)

This week I'm going to post two images per day of Bouguereau’s work--one piece that I like and one that I don't.

Short and sweet--one I like and one I don't.

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1825-1905

The Little Marauder
Creation Date: 1900
Size: 48.75 x 27.5 inches (124 x 70 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Private Collection

Bouguereau x 2 Week - "The Curtsey" and "Sewing"

On this Day in the History of Art: Sandro Boticelli died (1510), A. J. Casson born (1898)
This week I'm going to post two images per day of Bouguereau’s work--one piece that I don't like and one that I do.

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1825-1905

These two paintings are similar in that they both depict simple, ordinary actions performed by similar subjects, but I prefer the second piece to the first. The Curtsey appears artificial and posed whereas Sewing appears naturalistic. The artificiality of the pose in Curtsey is particularly annoying because the subject is supposed to be cute. The second model was probably posed with just as much artificiality, but because more consideration was applied to the details of the pose, it appears much more natural. The fictional world of Sewing seems more plausible and contained whereas the girl in Curtsey seems like she is "smiling for the camera."

Both paintings are rendered with great care and in particular the varied textures of the fabric were nice touches. I find the not-quite-centered but not-quite-to-the-side composition of the first painting to be without purpose or interest, but the more energetic lines of the second are wonderfully integrated into the image and add a spice to an otherwise uneventful scene.



The Curtsey
Creation Date: 1898
Media: Oil on canvas
Size: 29.33 x 54.33 in. (74.5 x 138 cm)
Location: Private collection

Bouguereau x 2 Week - "The Virgin With Angels" and "Little Esmeralda"

On this Day in the History of Art: Vilhelm Hammershøi born (1864), Emily Dickinson died (1886)

This week I'm going to post two images per day of Bouguereau’s work--one piece that I don't like and one that I do.

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1825-1905



The Virgin With Angels
Creation Date: 1900
Media: Oil on canvas

This painting is an example of artistic second-handedness that would rival the likes of Peter Keating.

Bouguereau x 2 Week - "Nymphs and Satyr " and "Lost Pleiad"

On this Day in the History of Art: Jean-Léon Gérôme born (1824), Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux born (1827), Walter Goodman born (1838), Salvador Dalí born (1904)

This week I'm going to post two images per day of Bouguereau’s work--one piece that I like and one that I don't.

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1825-1905



Nymphs and Satyr
Creation Date: 1873
Size: 102.4 x 70.9 in. (260 x 180 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA

Although I will never hang a reproduction of this painting on my wall, there are things I enjoy and respect about it. It has brilliant lighting with a wonderful and inviting warm cast. Although only one large beam lights the scene, through clever artistry, Bouguereau painted each figure with a different overall lighting scheme from the others. The reflected light that bounces off the environment and the pale figures onto other figures is handled with superb sensitivity to both stylistic effect and realism. The same can be said for the clever use of the background tonalities, which range from having high value contrast on the left to more unified tonalities on the right. Despite the sharp clarity with which the figures are represented they do not appear unnaturally stiff.

Bougeureau x 2 Week - "Meditation" and "The Bather"

On this Day in the History of Art: Nazi's and students express their intellectual impotence by burning the books they don't like (1933)

This week I'm going to post two images per day of Bouguereau’s work--one piece that I don’t like and one that I do.

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1825-1905

Meditation
Creation Date: 1885
Size: 34.06 x 52 in. (86.5 x 132 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, USA



What I find extremely annoying about this painting is the title. There is no good reason for it--there is no necessary connection between the idea of meditation and this image. A terrible reason to give this image this title, which I suspect was the actual reason, is that Bouguereau believed his audience would be impressed by it—that it would be a quick and easy way to lend a sense of loftiness or a higher purpose to what was for all intents and purposes an image of a pretty girl. This painting could have been just as appropriately entitled Bored or Pretty Model Dressed Up as a Peasant.

Bougeureau x 2 Week - "Evening Mood" and "The Wave"

On this Day in the History of Art: Dante Alighieri born (1265), Samuel Cousins born (1801), Friedrich Schiller died (1805), J.M. Barrie born (1860), Muppets by Jim Henson are premiered on TV (1955)

It would not be too unusual to hear advocates of Objectivist philosophy claim that the art of William-Adolphe Bouguereau visually embodies Ayn Rand’s philosophy more than any other painter and in many ways they would be correct. However, I have many mixed feelings about his body of work. I find some of his work to be exquisitely beautiful and yet others seem incredibly bland or even antithetical to my values. This week I'm going to post two images per day of Bouguereau’s work--one piece that I like and one that I don’t.

I admit that I have some hesitations about criticizing his work. Not only was his technical rendering skill far superior to mine (and I could certainly benefit from some of his criticisms), but I don’t think art criticism is a particularly useful field of endeavor (despite some of the lengthy commentary I often post here--I sometimes can't help myself.) In truth, I have no interest in convincing anyone that his work is either good or bad, or that they should or should not enjoy it. That being said, the idea of comparing fourteen paintings simply seems fun, interesting and educational for me, which is the purpose of this blog. So perhaps you will just enjoy his work and/or my comparisons and commentary regardless of your opinion of Bouguereau’s works.

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1825-1905



Evening Mood
Creation Date: 1882
Size: 81.6875 x 42.5 in. (207.5 x 108 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: National Museum of Art, Havana, Cuba

The first painting here is my favorite of Bouguereau’s works. I love the pose of the figure and how the shape of her body relates to the shapes of the black cloth. I appreciate the way the dark cloth and the pale body are integrated into a compositional design. The transparency of the cloth is painted with great subtlety, as is the moon in the sky. I love the way her single toe supports her, and on the surface of water no less. Effort has been put into conveying the idea that she has almost no weight and her pose is simple, but fantastically elegant. The view of life is incredibly positive. In this world, life is positive, vivid, relaxed, and beautiful. As with most works of art that I appreciate, I don’t have much more to say about it except that I think it's absolutely wonderful.