William-Adolphe Bouguereau

The above quote is taken from a 100+ year old book Kimmie recently inherited. It's credited to the artist Bouguereau who lived from 1825-1905. I once posted an awesome painting by him here. I "discovered" him when I inherited this print of Yvonne with Cherries. Yvonne was a little French girl whose mother was a friend of Bouguereau. He continued to paint Yvonne throughout her life so we can watch her grow up through Bouguereau's brush. And when I finally got to the Met in NYC, it was this small gallery which was closed to the public. (I have never seen one of his paintings in person, something I really crave. I guess it's reason to go back. Yes, there were almost tears.)

When looking at prints of his realistic, perfectly executed paintings, it almost seems impossible he would have said the above words. If anyone could hold rigidly to the principle of classical Academy training it would be this artist, who even instructed at the Academy.


The quoted words definitely match modern thinking as he is referring to sentiment, something which by the time he said this, was out-moded with the next generation of artists. Bouguereau continued to paint in his realistic style at the same time as Monet and Seurat were busy painting light via their own lenses. Once the impressionists took over, Bouguereau fell out of popularity.

I was thrilled to read this quote. It supports the meta-modern artist in me. From its place in modernity, it hints toward the inevitable emergence of postmodern art. It is fascinating to know at one point Bouguereau instructed Matisse. Perhaps it was exposure to this very philosophy which cultivated Matisse's free spirit as an artist? Still, part of me is glad Bouguereau never lived to see Warhol's soup cans...though after reading the above quote, perhaps he would have actually enjoyed Warhol.