拍品专文
By the 1880s, Bouguereau's prominence with collectors and critics was at its peak. The richest Americans and Europeans waited months to own one of his works and often ordered his paintings from a specially designed catalogue system. His success afforded him financial security and great independence as an artist. Bouguereau's critical acclaim equaled his financial success. In 1881, he was elected by his peers to serve as President of the Paintings Section of the annual Salon. Two years later he was named President of the Society of Painters, Architects, Sculptors, Engravers and Designers. Painted in 1884, La Tricoteuse comes from this important time in Bouguereau's career.
Bouguereau's most desirable subjects from this period were his sensitive portrayals of young, virtuous peasant girls. The image of the peasant girl knitting started appearing in Bouguereau's work as early as 1869 with La Tricoteuse (Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha) and he continued to examine this subject into the late 1890s. Painted with high finish and meticulous attention to detail, these pictures conveyed idealized views of the French peasant girl and promoted a belief in their innocence and innate beauty. Bouguereau's images transcended the realities of the hectic pace of contemporary city life as exemplified by the urbanization of Paris. His subjects from the 1880s are based on the classical themes that he favored early in his career, "Bouguereau's shepherdesses and fisherman's daughters, their figures as beautifully composed as classical statues and their ragged dresses studied with the same care as classical drapery, are part of this genre of the 'living antique'" (R. Isaacson, William Adolphe Bouguereau, Vassar College, exh. cat., 1974, p. 13).
Bouguereau was a compulsive draftsman whose final paintings evolved from the numerous preliminary sketches he made of his models and props within the confines of his Paris studio. Indeed, the model for La Tricoteuse was a favorite of his during this period. In our work the life-sized figure is posed naturalistically--her feet crossed before her as she leans against the corner of a wall, knitting and gazing into the distance as if lost in thought. In an effort to create a sense of accuracy to the scene, Bouguereau has overlooked no detail--the manner in which the fabric hangs, the turn of her ankles, the balance of her weight as she leans against the wall, the way in which her hands clasp her knitting, and the meticulous rendering of the plants and the description of the topography of the landscape all serve to imbue the painting with an almost photographic quality.
Bouguereau's most desirable subjects from this period were his sensitive portrayals of young, virtuous peasant girls. The image of the peasant girl knitting started appearing in Bouguereau's work as early as 1869 with La Tricoteuse (Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha) and he continued to examine this subject into the late 1890s. Painted with high finish and meticulous attention to detail, these pictures conveyed idealized views of the French peasant girl and promoted a belief in their innocence and innate beauty. Bouguereau's images transcended the realities of the hectic pace of contemporary city life as exemplified by the urbanization of Paris. His subjects from the 1880s are based on the classical themes that he favored early in his career, "Bouguereau's shepherdesses and fisherman's daughters, their figures as beautifully composed as classical statues and their ragged dresses studied with the same care as classical drapery, are part of this genre of the 'living antique'" (R. Isaacson, William Adolphe Bouguereau, Vassar College, exh. cat., 1974, p. 13).
Bouguereau was a compulsive draftsman whose final paintings evolved from the numerous preliminary sketches he made of his models and props within the confines of his Paris studio. Indeed, the model for La Tricoteuse was a favorite of his during this period. In our work the life-sized figure is posed naturalistically--her feet crossed before her as she leans against the corner of a wall, knitting and gazing into the distance as if lost in thought. In an effort to create a sense of accuracy to the scene, Bouguereau has overlooked no detail--the manner in which the fabric hangs, the turn of her ankles, the balance of her weight as she leans against the wall, the way in which her hands clasp her knitting, and the meticulous rendering of the plants and the description of the topography of the landscape all serve to imbue the painting with an almost photographic quality.