The wonderful Bouguereau
 

I had to share the one artist who has inspired me to no end. His words above ring true to me every time I pick up my paint brush. I think his quote above speaks for itself, so I won't blab on and on about it! :-)

Hi Jennifer,

I too am greatly influenced by Bouguereau. In 1984 Montreal had a large exhibition of his work, and to see many of his works together, and large works I might add, was just spectacular to say the least! It was really a calling for me and a very moving experience I will never forget.

You might know these web sites, but if not, they are two of the best Bouguereau site around.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~frqnc23/framesen.html
http://www.artrenewal.org/

Best regards,
Steven

Steven,

I just visited the first of the two web sites for Bouguereau that you listed (I was aware of the second). What a treat. Wouldn't it be great to see his skills applied to contemporary themes and subjects? His drawings and color sensitivity is incredible.

Where can you find his original work and what has been published about him?

I don't know how this compare to the other sites, but there's quite a bit at Carol Jackson Presents at http://sunsite.dk/cgfa/bouguereau/index.html

She has a huge collection of art there and the home page is http://sunsite.dk/cgfa. In fact, she was one of the first sites on the web with a great collection of art and high quality images.

Jim,

not much has been published about him except for the catalogs of past exhibits which are very, very rare and hard to find. The only book that has recently come out which is very good is the one by Fronia E. Wissman titled Bouguereau. That one is very easy to find. Fred Ross from the art renewel web site will be publishing a catalog of Bouguereau very soon as well.

Cynthia,
I've had that web site bookmarked for quite a while, it is a great web site full of amazing works of art from well known Masters to the lesser known ones. That site is a keeper!

Thanks,
Steve

Steven, I am jealous! You are so lucky to have seen a show of his! What I wouldn't give to see one myself! There is something about standing in front of the original in all its incredible beauty that is much more inspiring than simply gazing at photographs of the work. I go to Holland every year and can't seem to NOT go to the museums there, so I can experience Rembrandt (another of my favorites!) first hand! The closer I get, the better! To see his brush strokes is to almost know the man!

Also, thanks for the great links to Bouguereau's sites! I bookmarked them already!

Surprise!
 

Jennifer, I think you will find that many good museums near you will have a Bouguereau. I've found them in some unlikely little musuems who didn't even appreciate what they had. I was knocked out by a large one at a small college museum in Oklahoma! He painted so much and was very popular in America. He still, is contrary to what New York modernist have been trying tell us for 85 years. Good hunting.

Jennifer,

I used to have a big poster of the painting you posted and had it hanging in my dorm room over 20 years ago. I bought it in the gift shop at a major museum but for the life of me, can't remember which one and have no idea where the poster went!

Anyway, even then I loved Bouguereau before I aspired to be a portrait artist. His skin tones are always so life like.

The wonderful Bouguereau
 

Hi Jennifer,

Whilst looking for information on Maxfield Parrish's painting and glazing techniques, I stumbled upon the first of the 2 Bouguereau sites. I am, for want of a better term, almost reduced to tears, by both the sheer mastery of his technique and my level of ignorance of his work. Do you know of any books or instruction on his method, particularily the beautiful naturalistic skin tones he uses?

I would be eternally grateful for any info.

Thanks again,
Patrick

Warning
 

I've been researching this too. For one thing his work looks great, still little cracking etc. unlike Sargent and other greats. The really informed guys say the "new found" book out about his work and methods may be mostly bunk. They say it doesn't sound even close. Beeswax, oil of Lavender (which smells great) and years of practice, and resins, oils, maybe two or 3 for each painting. I think these recipes are a bit like baking bread...having the ingredients and finding success (merely getting the mediums right) are two very different things.