Lot Essay
William Adolphe Bouguereau painted "Blessures d'Amour" at the age of seventy-two when he was at the height of his career. The subject was one which had intrigued him as an artist throughout his prolific career. Greek and Latin poetry and mythology had always been a source of inspiration to Bouguereau and his imagery often drew on his avid interest in these sources. Though his reputation had been largely established with his pictures of shepherdesses and children, the paintings from the latter part of his life commonly depict nymphs and satyrs, the birth of Venus, Bacchanalian scenes and idealized beauties with Eros figures. "Blessures d'Amour" is reminiscent of three earlier Salon entries: his 1877 "La Jeunesse et l'amour," his 1880 "Jeunne Fille se defendant contre l'amour," and his 1892 "Le guepier" that had been commissioned by the American collector Charles T. Yerkes.
In these, as with other compositions, Bouguereau created what he described as 'un genie immortel'--an ideal of grace and beauty that transforms nature. A devotee of the classical cannons of antiquity and the lessons of the Italian Renaissance masters, the model in "Blessures d'Amour" borrows equally from Greek statuary and Raphael's palette. The composition is tightly arranged within a geometric structure and emphasis is placed on the harmony of line and color. No detail is overlooked in an effort to create verisimilitude. From the numerous sketches of drapery and flora that have survived one can see how meticulously Bouguereau worked out his compositions before setting down to paint, and there are several descriptions of him at work which recount his exhaustive studies of his models' feet and hands. "Blessures d'Amour" is seemingly brought alive through the myriad poses that create a sense of fleeting motion. This is enhanced by the delicate manipulation of tone and color--colors which Bouguereau prepared himself following what Moreau-Vauthier described as 'secret recipes' (M. Walker, W. Bouguereau, Montreal, exh. cat., p. 76).
Bouguereau's fascination with mythology was not entirely unique to him alone during this period of pompier painting. When "Blessures d'Amour" was exhibited in the Salon of 1897, it was hung in the company of Courtois' "L'Amour" and Albert Laurens' "Sirens." Eros's position in the panopoly of the gods is not fully clear; he did not figure into the ruling family of twelve gods at Olympus. He is alternatively described as being the first of the gods and therefore hatched from the world-egg, or as being the son of Aphrodite by either Hermes (a phallic god), Ares (the god of war), or Zeus (her own father). As the god of erotic love, Eros was variously idealized by Cicero, Virgil and Plutarch as being a wild boy with golden wings who randomly and wantonly set hearts on fire with his barbed arrows. These poets tooks perverse pleasure in his antics and it is evident that Bouguereau too sentimentalized the youth in his playful interpretation of the story in "Blessures d'Amour."
In these, as with other compositions, Bouguereau created what he described as 'un genie immortel'--an ideal of grace and beauty that transforms nature. A devotee of the classical cannons of antiquity and the lessons of the Italian Renaissance masters, the model in "Blessures d'Amour" borrows equally from Greek statuary and Raphael's palette. The composition is tightly arranged within a geometric structure and emphasis is placed on the harmony of line and color. No detail is overlooked in an effort to create verisimilitude. From the numerous sketches of drapery and flora that have survived one can see how meticulously Bouguereau worked out his compositions before setting down to paint, and there are several descriptions of him at work which recount his exhaustive studies of his models' feet and hands. "Blessures d'Amour" is seemingly brought alive through the myriad poses that create a sense of fleeting motion. This is enhanced by the delicate manipulation of tone and color--colors which Bouguereau prepared himself following what Moreau-Vauthier described as 'secret recipes' (M. Walker, W. Bouguereau, Montreal, exh. cat., p. 76).
Bouguereau's fascination with mythology was not entirely unique to him alone during this period of pompier painting. When "Blessures d'Amour" was exhibited in the Salon of 1897, it was hung in the company of Courtois' "L'Amour" and Albert Laurens' "Sirens." Eros's position in the panopoly of the gods is not fully clear; he did not figure into the ruling family of twelve gods at Olympus. He is alternatively described as being the first of the gods and therefore hatched from the world-egg, or as being the son of Aphrodite by either Hermes (a phallic god), Ares (the god of war), or Zeus (her own father). As the god of erotic love, Eros was variously idealized by Cicero, Virgil and Plutarch as being a wild boy with golden wings who randomly and wantonly set hearts on fire with his barbed arrows. These poets tooks perverse pleasure in his antics and it is evident that Bouguereau too sentimentalized the youth in his playful interpretation of the story in "Blessures d'Amour."