William Adolphe Bouguereau

Born in La Rochelle, France in 1825 Bouguereau worked for a wine merchant and a grocer to earn money to attend the Ecole de Beaux Arts School. In 1850, he won the Prix de Rome and studied in Italy for a few years. His orthodox style allowed him to exhibit with the Salon in the 1860's and 1870's, at which time, he also played a role in excluding the Impressionists and other experimental artists out of the Salon. After being represented by several prestigious galleries internationally and completing public commissions he was elected to the French Academy in 1876. His conventional, highly polished style of painting women, children and angels allowed him to be, for a period, the most famous French painter of his time. Bouguereau died in La Rochelle in August of 1905. Today his works can be seen in museum collections throughout Europe and America.

William Adolphe Bouguereau Images:
Birth of Venus
Compassion
Girl Defending Herself Against Love
La Naissance De Venus (The Birth of Venus)
L'Espieglerie (The Mischievous One)
L'Innocence
Nymphaeum
Nymphs and Satyr
Nymphs And Satyr, 1873
Pause for Thought
Pieta, 1876
Rest in Harvest
Seated Nude
The Abduction Of Psyche, 1895
The Birth Of Venus (Naissance de Venus)
The First Kiss
The First Mourning
The Knitting Girl, 1869
The Nymphaeum
The Ravishment Of Psyche
The Virgin of the Lilies (La Vierge Au Lys)
The Virgin, Baby Jesus & Saint John the Baptist
The Young Seamstress
Tricoteuse
Two Sisters
Whisperings of Love, 1889