.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The small dimensions of the present canvas and the plain background indicate that this could be one of the many studies that Bouguereau executed before he began working on his major pictures. In January 1921, the artist Robert Marc, one of Bouguereau's dedicated students, organized an exhibition devoted solely to Bouguereau at the Gallery Dewambez in Paris. Leandre Vaillat gave an account of the exhibition in L'Illustration, describing Marc's explanation of Bouguereau's working methods: 'Many head studies exist in order to illustrate the manner in which he worked: certain ones represent Italian models, others represent French models. Bouguereau executed these works rapidly, in a four-hour session, and he had the habit of placing them next to him, while he continued to develop the figures to which they once belonged, the painting which they would form a part of, and for which previously, he had composed a well-balanced sketch.' These studies were then arranged carefully in the artist's studio, where he could resume working on them at a later date.
The models for his paintings were selected from amongst the children of the fishermen and farm laborers from the surrounding countryside of La Rochelle. It is not known who the young model in the present work might be, nor does this child appear definitively in any of the published works of the artist, but it remains a charming evocation of the innocence and delicacy of childhood. It is interesting that the artist has chosen to retain the white background, while most of the other head studies are finished with a dark background. As was usual, once Bouguereau considered the study to be finished, he signed and dated the work and sent it off to his dealer, Arthur Tooth & Sons in London. Perhaps the artist chose to keep the white background in order to enhance the concept of purity and innocence that is the essence of childhood.
A preparatory drawing was used by Marius Vachon to illustrate his biography of the artist (fig. 1).
The models for his paintings were selected from amongst the children of the fishermen and farm laborers from the surrounding countryside of La Rochelle. It is not known who the young model in the present work might be, nor does this child appear definitively in any of the published works of the artist, but it remains a charming evocation of the innocence and delicacy of childhood. It is interesting that the artist has chosen to retain the white background, while most of the other head studies are finished with a dark background. As was usual, once Bouguereau considered the study to be finished, he signed and dated the work and sent it off to his dealer, Arthur Tooth & Sons in London. Perhaps the artist chose to keep the white background in order to enhance the concept of purity and innocence that is the essence of childhood.
A preparatory drawing was used by Marius Vachon to illustrate his biography of the artist (fig. 1).