Ophelia

Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret, Parisian by birth, enrolled at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts in 1869. A pupil of Gérôme, he was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1876 - the year of his Salon debut. Although his early paintings depicted mythological subjects, he very quickly absorbed the lessons of both Realism and the Barbizon school, concentraing on events from modern life. His best known works in this style are the Noces chez le photographe in the Beaux-Arts Museum in Lyons and "Les Chemineaux" at the Assemblée National in Paris. His subsequent friendship with the painter Bastien-Lepage inspired Dagnan-Bouveret to paint a number of religious genre scenes. Dagnan-Bouveret's eclectic talents extended to portraiture where he was in great demand amongst Parisian high society. In 1889 he was awarded a "Medaille d'Honneur" at the Exposition Universelle, the culmination of a highly sucessful career.

"M. Dagnan-Bouveret est aujourd'hui l'un de nos peintres les plus estimés par ses confrères et les plus appréciés par les amateurs." (Gazette des Beaux-Arts Juin 1909)

Shakespeare's plays were a rich source for many 19th century romantic and symbolist painters, and Dagnan-Bouveret's Ophelia is a disturbing and powerful illustration of the Rimbaldian verses:

"C'est que la voix des mers folles, immenses râle,
Bristait ton sein d'enfant, trop humain et trop doux;
C'est qu'un matin d'avril, un beau cavalier pâle,
Un pauvre fou, s'assit muet à tes genoux!"