Born in La Rochelle, France, William Adolphe Bougereau began his studies in 1838 with Louis
Sage, a student of renowned Romantic painter Ingres. After moving to Bordeaux in 1842, the
artist attended the cole Municipale de Dessin et de Peinture in Bordeaux.
Bougereau gained local acclaim as a talented portrait painter before going to Paris in
1846 to attend cole des Beaux Arts, noted for its traditional academic approach to painting.
In 1850 Bougereau was awarded the coveted Prix de Rome and spent four years at the Villa
Medici studying Classical and Renaissance masterpieces. The potent influence of Classical
works is readily apparent in works dating after this period.
Bougereau blended classical poses and subject matter with his own romanticized
realism rendered in the highly finished style that would come to characterize his paintings.
During the 1870s Bougereau's focus shifted from historical and genre scenes to lighter, lyrical
mythological subjects. Highly regarded by his contemporaries, Bougereau was awarded
numerous state commissions and, at the height of his career, taught at the Acadmie Julian
and the cole des Beaux Arts.
Throughout his lifetime, Bougereau staunchly defended the academic tradition of
painting and was viewed as an obstructionist by the new generation of painters who were
experimenting with Impressionism. While immensely popular during his lifetime, Bougereau's
reputation suffered with the advent of the modernists who viewed his work as mediocre and
overly sentimental. Recent exhibitions have focused attention on the contribution of mid-19th
century artists and Bougereau's work has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity.
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