William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) was a French academic painter and one of my favourite artists, right up there with Mucha and Waterhouse. His themes were mainly mythological, executed in the Realist style with an emphasis on the female human body. Every time when I look at his paintings I cannot help but be mesmerized by the timeless beauty and utterly sublime quality of his work.

*Pulls hair* Look at the superb rendering of those flesh tones ! This was a time when photographic reference was non-existent and all the artist could rely upon was his exercised power of observation and deep understanding of light, form and color.

(above – The Assault and below – The Oreads ) I managed to see the giant originals of these two pieces in Musee D’Orsay during my Paris trip last year and was completely hypnotized for the longest time. The awe factor was also amplified by the considerable size of these paintings – The Oread stood 2.3 by 1.8 metres.

I visited Montparnasse Cemetery ( my hotel was about five minutes away ) during my stay, but it was only later on that I discovered William Bougereau’s tomb was located there. I am ashamed ! Should I ever visit Paris in the future I will come to pay my respects, sir.

Incredible, incredible pieces of art work by a legendary painter.

Since writing this post I’ve purchased the excellent William Bouguereau : His Life and Works art book. This is an amazing volume and I highly recommend it. Read the book review here.

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