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Lot Essay
Starting in 1865, Bouguereau became enamored with the theme of mothers and children, and began a series of paintings dedicated to this subject matter. The first of these were set in Italy, which had greatly impressed the artist upon his recent trip there.
Le reveil was painted in the artist's Paris studio in 1865, and holds a prominent place in this category of works which was particulalrly dear to the artist. In the painting, a young Roman mother holds a naked infant, and it is not clear whether she is putting him to bed or waking him from his afternoon nap. To one side of the composition, a little girl kneels by the side of the bed, her hands joined as if in prayer, gazing with silent admiration at her little brother. These three figures, clearly reminiscent of a Holy Family, are bathed in a clear, warm light and set against a dark background, while the room behind the figural group is plunged into near-darkness, thereby heightening the important of the figural group.
The young girl is clearly recognizable as Emilienne Cesil-Biegler, who was born in 1859, and the baby is her younger brother, Henri, who can not be more than two years old. The children's mother was a maid in the Bouguereau household at the time. Emilienne was one of Bouguereau's favorite models at this stage in his career and she appears in many of the artist's works from 1864 to 1867, such as La soeur aîneé, La prière, Bulles de Savon, L'oiseau chéri and Le lever.
It is also possible that the model for the mother in this painting is Nelly Bouguereau, the artist's wife. A preparatory study for this work exists and is in a private collection. A photograph of the painting taken by Collin was published in 1865 by Durand-Ruel.
We are grateful to Damien Bartoli for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné currently being prepared by Damien Bartoli with the assistance of Fred Ross, the Bouguereau Committee and the Art Renewal Center.
Le reveil was painted in the artist's Paris studio in 1865, and holds a prominent place in this category of works which was particulalrly dear to the artist. In the painting, a young Roman mother holds a naked infant, and it is not clear whether she is putting him to bed or waking him from his afternoon nap. To one side of the composition, a little girl kneels by the side of the bed, her hands joined as if in prayer, gazing with silent admiration at her little brother. These three figures, clearly reminiscent of a Holy Family, are bathed in a clear, warm light and set against a dark background, while the room behind the figural group is plunged into near-darkness, thereby heightening the important of the figural group.
The young girl is clearly recognizable as Emilienne Cesil-Biegler, who was born in 1859, and the baby is her younger brother, Henri, who can not be more than two years old. The children's mother was a maid in the Bouguereau household at the time. Emilienne was one of Bouguereau's favorite models at this stage in his career and she appears in many of the artist's works from 1864 to 1867, such as La soeur aîneé, La prière, Bulles de Savon, L'oiseau chéri and Le lever.
It is also possible that the model for the mother in this painting is Nelly Bouguereau, the artist's wife. A preparatory study for this work exists and is in a private collection. A photograph of the painting taken by Collin was published in 1865 by Durand-Ruel.
We are grateful to Damien Bartoli for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné currently being prepared by Damien Bartoli with the assistance of Fred Ross, the Bouguereau Committee and the Art Renewal Center.