William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a famous French painter associated with realism and academic art. He is best known for his depictions of beautiful feminine nude women and mythological scenes. Famous William-Adolphe Bouguereau artworks include “The Birth of Venus”, “Nymphs and Satyr”, “The Shepherdess”, “Evening Mood”, “The First Mourning”, “Orestes Pursued by the Furies”, “Equality Before Death”, “The Holy Family”, “The Wave”, “A Young Girl Defending Herself Against Eros”, and “Two Sisters”.
Mini biography: Born William-Adolphe Bouguereau on the 30th of November, 1825 in La Rochelle, France. His mother was Marie Bonnin and his father Théodore Bouguereau was a wine and olive oil merchant. Bouguereau married his model Nelly Monchablon in 1866 and they had five children together: Henriette, Georges, Jeanne, Adolphe and Maurice. His wife died in 1877. He married his second wife, the American realist painter Elizabeth Jane Gardner in 1896. The artist died on the 19th of August, 1905 in La Rochelle, France at the age of 79. William-Adolphe Bouguereau is buried at the Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris, France.
List of Famous William-Adolphe Bouguereau Art Quotes
For me a work of art must be an elevated interpretation of nature. The search for the ideal has been the purpose of my life. In landscape or seascape, I love above all the poetic motif. William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Why reproduce what is ugly in nature? I do not see why it should be necessary. William-Adolphe Bouguereau
One has to seek beauty and truth, Sir! As I always say to my pupils, you have to work to the finish. There’s only one kind of painting. It is the painting that presents the eye with perfection, the kind of beautiful and impeccable enamel you find in Veronese and Titian. William-Adolphe Bouguereau
One is born an artist. The artist is a man endowed with a special nature, with a particular feeling for seeing form and color spontaneously, as a whole, in perfect harmony. If one lacks that feeling, one is not an artist and will never become an artist; and it is a waste of time to entertain the possibility. William-Adolphe Bouguereau
One shouldn’t believe in all those so-called innovations. There is only one nature and only one way to see it. Nowadays, they want to succeed too fast, this is how they go about inventing new aesthetics, pointillism, pipisme! All this is just to make noise. William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Nowadays, painters go much too far, just as writers and realist novelists do. There is no way of telling where they’ll draw the line. William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Art Quotes About William-Adolphe Bouguereau
I know I am censured for not more boldly asserting my individuality, but I would rather be known as the best imitator of Bouguereau than be nobody! Elizabeth Jane Gardner
William-Adolphe Bouguereau Self Portrait Painting
More on Famous French Artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau
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Related or similar popular artists include: Jean Leon Gerome, Jacques Louis David, Ingres, Gustave Courbet and other Famous French Artists.
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