The Encyclopedia of William-Adolphe Bouguereau Art
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) was a French academic painter and traditionalist. He was a staunch traditionalist whose realistic genre paintings and mythological themes made him one of the most popular artists during the Académie des Beaux-Arts in his life. Bouguereau's works were drawn from tradition, avoiding the controversy of modern subjects, and he became a celebrated painter in his own time.
Bouguereau's mythological paintings such as The Birth of Venus and Nymphs and Satyr are among his most famous works. He also produced many popular portraits and religious/allegorical paintings like The Bohemian, First Mourning, and Pieta. Bouguereau's technical mastery and attention to detail allowed him to render the human body with unparalleled realism. Despite criticism from the avant-garde, Bouguereau's paintings were immensely popular, and he remains a prominent figure in the Académie's revivalist tradition.