Monday Morning Museum: Adolphe-William Bouguereau

Self-Portrait, 1879 by Adolphe-William Bouguereau

Adolphe-William Bouguereau – Wednesday 30 November 1825 La Rochelle, France to Saturday 19 August 1905 La Rochelle, France

French Academic Painter

Breton Brother and Sister, 1871

“Bouguereau made his fortune by producing idyllic images of women and children for enthusiastic American collectors. As a critic of the time explained, "Whoever gets a picture by Bouguereau gets the full worth of his money, in finished painting, first-rate drawing, and a subject and treatment that no well-bred person can…fault."

This picture is one of several works that the artist based on sketches made while summering in Brittany in the late 1860s. It was completed in his studio in 1871; Catharine Lorillard Wolfe’s father, the real estate and hardware baron John David Wolfe (1792–1872), purchased the painting from the New York gallery M. Knoedler & Co. in November of that year, just six months before his death.” – Metropolitan Museum of Art

Last Monday’s Artist – Jules Bastien-Lepage
Next Monday’s Artist – James Abbott McNeill Whistler

“Monday Morning Museum” logo created by Adrean Darce Brent