William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born the oldest son of a wine and olive oil producer in La Rochelle. At age 12, the family sent him to his uncle, a priest, to Mortagne. Influenced by his uncle, the young Bouguereau developed a passion for nature, religion and literature. At the age of 14, he began studying for a priest in Pons. There he was taught by Louis Sage, a former student of
Ingres , in painting and drawing. Bouguereau had to cancel his studies prematurely and move to his family in Bordeaux. He continued his education there and enrolled in 1841 at the Municipal Art School. After a short time he became the best student in the class. In Bouguereau, the desire to work as a painter in Paris developed. His move he financed himself within 3 months. He made and sold a total of 33 oil portraits. At the age of 20 he moved to Paris and attended the École des Beaux-Arts. He did not confine his education to the arts, but visited anatomical dissections, dealt with historical costumes and archeology.
Bourguerau was able to get a place in the studio of
Francois-Edouard Picot after his studies. Picot introduced him to painting after academic style. After three attempts, he was finally able to win the coveted Prix de Rome in 1850. The winners of the award were allowed to travel to Rome. Overall, he spent almost four years in Italy before he returned to Paris in 1854. Bourgueau was revered as a master of academic classicism and realism. During his entire active creative period, he was allowed to exhibit every year at the Paris Salon. His works such as "The Birth of Venus" brought him much recognition and he was soon internationally known. Art critics of his time liked to compare him to
Raphael . Bourgureau valued Raphael very much and liked to orientate his paintings on Renaissance painters like
Tiziano Vecelli . He was thus in stark opposition to Impressionism and other experimental art movements.
Bourguereau was closely associated with the Académie Julien, teaching students from around the world. His students included Henri Matisse. As far as is known, Bourguereau is said to have made a total of over 822 paintings. The majority, however, is considered lost. Bourguereau was a very zealous painter who once described his relationship to his work as follows: "Every day I go to my studio full of joy. In the evening, when I have to stop because of the dark, I can not wait for the next morning to come. "He died at 79 of heart disease in his hometown of La Rochelle.
© Meisterdrucke
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 - (MeisterDrucke-27701).jpg "Young Woman Contemplating Two Embracing Children (1861) by William Adolphe Bouguereau")
