 |
||
| The career of William Bouguereau, unlike that of his contemporaries, the then avant-garde Impressionists, was one of ever-increasing success without significant setback. Trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and at the Villa Medici in Rome, Bouguereau’s style was classified as Realist, but can perhaps be better described as a hybrid of photo-realism and idealism. Despite being verbally attacked by Degas and the Impressionists, who considered him to be too backward-looking and artificial and to be holding back the progression of French art, at the time of his death he was one of the most respected and loved French artists. Bouguereau regularly exhibited at the Salon and was awarded many commissions for portraits and decorative series. His work was very popular with both the public and critics, and he was soon able to sell through dealers, finding enthusiastic markets in England and America. His scenes of bathers, nymphs, and other idylls provided the perfect escape from the pressures of every-day life. In the period between 1868 and 1895, the theme of the “shepherdess” appears at least nine times in Bouguereau’s work. While Bouguereau was often criticized for having too often repainted the same subject for profit, his shepherdess images contain clear differences. The Young Shepherdess stands in the classical contrapposto stance – her weight is shifted to one foot, accentuating her complex curves and emphasizing her hips, shoulder, and arms. Bouguereau often depicted his human figures with bare feet; well-painted feet were notoriously difficult to render convincingly and Bouguereau’s ability to do so served to mark his status as a highly skilled academic painter.  (For Grades 6-8) How does the setting for this portrait inform the viewer about the subject? How does the artist convey the illusion of space? How is this classical portrait different than contemporary portraits? What does this portrait tell about the sitter’s personality? Do you think that she’s actually a shepherdess? Why or why not? |
||
| |
||
  |
||
William Bouguereau France, 1825-1905 The Young Shepherdess Oil on canvas, 1885 Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin S. Larsen 1968:82 © San Diego Museum of Art |
||
© 2005 CARE All rights reserved