Adolphe-William Bouguereau was at once one of the most despised and one of the most adored of French artists by the time of his death in 1905. Shown contempt by progressive painters and critics, who saw in his works all that was wrong with the official French world of art, he was a favorite of collectors, who found in his paintings of bathers, nymphs, and shepherdesses a realm of eternal beauty far from modern life.

Our Bouguereau collection brings together some of the beautiful paintings of a better, purer time and place which continue to find favor with contemporary viewers. Over 220 images here exemplify Bouguereau’s precision in creating timeless works of sensual, emotional, and intellectual appeal.

Bouguereau displayed his rare talent for drawing at a very early age, and he was subsequently educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He became a highly sought-after portraitist, while his paintings continued to be accepted at the Salon, where they were enthusiastically received by the public. His influence spread through his instruction at the Academic Julian, where he taught beginning in 1875. Be the end of his life he had won medals at international expositions held in France, Germany and the Netherlands and had been decorated by the governments of Belgium and Spain.