As Canéphore (lot 54) and Idyll (lot 55) showed Bouguereau's evolution as a young prodigy of twenty-five, Beauté Romane was executed in 1904 at a time when Bouguereau's stature as a master was unchallenged. In his lifetime he had been the recipient of numerous honors and an educator of a generation of artists. He was also one of the most financially successful artists of his era, leaving an estate valued just under 7,000,000 French Francs at his death in 1905.

True throughout his lifetime to the doctrines of the Academic tradition, Beauté Romane underscores Bouguereau's interest in creating perfect harmony in his painting through a balance of color, line and composition. The idealized image of beauty in Beauté Romane evoked the Antique and transplanted the viewer into a visionary world far removed from their contemporary 19th century life. In an 1895 interview in L'Echo de Paris, Bouguereau was quoted by Eugéne Tardieu as saying, "In painting, I am an idealist. I see only the beautiful in art, and for me, art is the beautiful. Why reproduce what is ugly in nature? I do not see why it should be necessary...One has to seek Beauty and Truth, Sir!...There is only one kind of painting. It's the painting that presents the eye with perfection."

Characteristic of the paintings of the last years of his life, Beauté Romane is painted in a freer manner with the background disolving into almost impressionistic harmonies of color and the folds of the drapery becoming softer and less photorealistic. The model he used for the painting was a favorite in these late years and her pose is taken from Greek statuary and follows the classical tradition of balance between the static and the dynamic.

We are grateful to Mark Steven Walker for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.