William Adolphe Bouguereau is unquestionably one of history's greatest artistic geniuses. Yet in the past century, his reputation and unparalleled accomplishments have undergone a libelous, dishonest, relentless and systematic assault of immense proportions. His name was stricken from most history texts and when included it was only to blindly degrade and disparage him and his work.
Cupidon
Above, Cupidon: a beautiful and realistic image of Cupid or Eros in a modest pose with his famous bow lying at his feet. Prints, posters, and canvas reproductions of this painting are available in my online store.
It was William Adolphe Bouguereau who single handedly opened the French academies to women, and it was he who was arguably the greatest painter of the human figure in all of art history. His figures come to life like no previous artist has ever before or ever since achieved.
Dante and Virgil in Hell
Above, Dante and Virgil in Hell, 1850, showing the imagined horrors of the underworld. Click here to view my reproductions of this masterwork.
Bouguereau wasn’t just the best ever at painting human anatomy, more importantly he captured the tender and subtlest nuances of personality and mood. Bouguereau caught the very souls and spirits of his subjects much like Rembrandt. Rembrandt is said to have captured the soul of age. Bouguereau captured the soul of youth.
Orestes and the Furies, below, depicts the immediate persecution of Orestes by the Furies. The prince of Argos has just murdered his mother in revenge for her slaying of Orestes' father Agamemnon. I have posters and prints of Orestes and the Furies available for purchase.
Orestes and the Furies
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