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Lot Essay
William Bouguereau was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome in 1850, and he spent the next three years ensconced at the glorious Villa de Medicis, where he spent his days immersed in the imagery of classical antiquity and the Renaissance. Rêverie is an elegant expression of the ways in which this same subject matter frequently recurred in the artist’s oeuvre throughout his long career. Called tableaux de fantasie by the artist, these paintings provided the perfect vehicle for Bouguereau’s artistic dedication to the creation of beautiful forms and harmonious colors. The artist’s interest in antiquity extended beyond the visual arts and into literature as well. Bouguereau was known to keep the writings of both Virgil and Ovid by his bedside, and works from this genre of his oeuvre must also be viewed as meditations on the classical world based on his understanding of these texts.
The academic tradition, of which Bouguereau was the leading proponent during his lifetime, had long been interested in classical images and motifs, and these subjects offered Bouguereau a rich and varied pool with which to express his own formidable talents. Bathers, nymphs, Venuses and allegories abound throughout his oeuvre. Bouguereau often expressed the importance of drawing inspiration from antiquity as an artist. In a lecture given at the Institut de France in 1885, the artist said, ‘Antiquity reveals what an inexhaustible source of variegated inspiration nature is. With a relatively restricted number of elements – a head, a bust, arms, a torso, legs, a stomach – how many masterpieces she has made! Then why seek out other things to paint or sculpt?’ (W. Bouguereau, 'Discours de M. Bouguereau', in Séance publique annuelle des cinqs Academies du 24 Octobre 1885, Institut de France).
Bouguereau ultimately strove to achieve a vision of perfection in a less than perfect age. It has been argued by both contemporary and modern critics that Bouguereau’s art bears little to no relationship to the realities of political, industrial or urban life of 19th century France. But if Bouguereau’s art ignores these aspects of his times, it is because the artist deliberately chose to rise above the harsh truth of day-to-day existence and instead focus on the peace and serenity of an imagined Arcadia and exalt more pleasant images. This is not an artistic falsehood, but rather an artistic choice.
Bouguereau’s creation of a distant, archetypal and poetic world is an extension of a practice with a long academic tradition most famously articulated by Nicholas Poussin. Bouguereau’s tableaux de fantasie are rarely narrative; they do not seek to tell a story or illustrate a moral. Rather, they are emotive and evocative; they aim to portray a feeling or mood. By sublimating the narrative in favor of mood, Bouguereau can further emphasize the beauty of line and his flawless technique, much like Albert Moore and Frederick Lord Leighton in England.
The academic tradition, of which Bouguereau was the leading proponent during his lifetime, had long been interested in classical images and motifs, and these subjects offered Bouguereau a rich and varied pool with which to express his own formidable talents. Bathers, nymphs, Venuses and allegories abound throughout his oeuvre. Bouguereau often expressed the importance of drawing inspiration from antiquity as an artist. In a lecture given at the Institut de France in 1885, the artist said, ‘Antiquity reveals what an inexhaustible source of variegated inspiration nature is. With a relatively restricted number of elements – a head, a bust, arms, a torso, legs, a stomach – how many masterpieces she has made! Then why seek out other things to paint or sculpt?’ (W. Bouguereau, 'Discours de M. Bouguereau', in Séance publique annuelle des cinqs Academies du 24 Octobre 1885, Institut de France).
Bouguereau ultimately strove to achieve a vision of perfection in a less than perfect age. It has been argued by both contemporary and modern critics that Bouguereau’s art bears little to no relationship to the realities of political, industrial or urban life of 19th century France. But if Bouguereau’s art ignores these aspects of his times, it is because the artist deliberately chose to rise above the harsh truth of day-to-day existence and instead focus on the peace and serenity of an imagined Arcadia and exalt more pleasant images. This is not an artistic falsehood, but rather an artistic choice.
Bouguereau’s creation of a distant, archetypal and poetic world is an extension of a practice with a long academic tradition most famously articulated by Nicholas Poussin. Bouguereau’s tableaux de fantasie are rarely narrative; they do not seek to tell a story or illustrate a moral. Rather, they are emotive and evocative; they aim to portray a feeling or mood. By sublimating the narrative in favor of mood, Bouguereau can further emphasize the beauty of line and his flawless technique, much like Albert Moore and Frederick Lord Leighton in England.