Bouguereau & America

Abstract

"Seeking to bring Gallic sophistication and worldly elegance into their galleries and drawing rooms, wealthy Americans of the late 19th and early 20th centuries collected the work of William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) in record numbers. This revelatory volume offers an in-depth exploration of Bouguereau's overwhelming popularity in turn-of-the-century America and the ways that his work--widely known from reviews, exhibitions, and inexpensive reproductions--resonated with the American public. While also lauded by the French artistic establishment and a dominant presence at the Parisian Salons, Bouguereau achieved his greatest success selling his idealized and polished paintings to a voracious American market. In this book, the authors discuss how the artist's sensual classical maidens, Raphaelesque Madonnas, and pristine peasant children embodied the tastes of American Gilded Age patrons, and how Bouguereau's canvases persuasively functioned as freshly painted Old Masters for collectors flush with new money"--

Contents

Treasures of a millionaire's mansion: Bouguereau and his American collectors / Tanya Paul -- The good, the bad, and the ugly : Bouguereau and his American critics / Stanton Thomas -- Bouguereau in the museum : a selected survey / Eric Zafran -- "Not of the bold itinerant class" : Bouguereau's paintings of poor children / Martha Hoppin -- William-Adolphe Bouguereau : a problem for art history / Abigail Solomon-Godeau.