The following is from my Graduate thesis paper...
Innocence and Sexuality: The Female Form in Figurative Art
Adolphe-William Bouguereau
Although Bouguereau is
considered one of history’s paramount painters of the human form, this beloved
French artist faced a constant criticism that his work was too beautiful. His images, critics said, were over rendered
and too idealized. Beauty was, and in
most cases still is, considered artificial and hollow by critics, while
ugliness is seen as genuine and powerful. Impressionistic artists of his time even coined the term ‘Bouguereaute’
to describe paintings they thought were too photo-realistic, artificial, and
slick like Bouguereau’s. To them, his
paintings were not to be taken seriously in the official world of French art. While they were painting true to life
‘impressions’ of the everyday world around them, like crowded café scenes,
field workers, and haystacks, Bouguereau was painting fantastical images of
sweet-faced shepherdesses and bathing nymphs, porcelain Aphrodites and
mischievous little cupids. Conversely,
audiences at the Salon loved these images because they were able to immerse
themselves into another world. A world
where love and beauty abound, and they could forget the troubles of their
everyday lives. Bouguereau’s images
were sentimental and tender, often featuring mother and child, or vulnerable
young peasant girls. Very few of his
paintings featured mature male figures. The ones that did depicted historical or religious tragedies (these
paintings were more difficult to sell because of their large scale and heavy
subjects). Most male figures in his
artwork take on the casting of frolicsome cherubs or Cupids and play a
secondary role to the fair skinned maidens. These were a favorite and were
easily sold to collectors and admirers of Bouguereau’s work. Like Michelangelo and Leonardo, Bouguereau
painted the female form as an aesthetic, decorative element in his work.
He valued above all else the beauty of the human body.
For
Bouguereau, a painting was meant to be “decorative,” and the term was not pejorative but honorific, reaching
back into history to take its source and strength from some of the greatest
works of the Western tradition: from Pompeian wall paintings to cycles in
churches by the greatest of Italian artists, from the anonymous mosaic
craftsmen of Ravenna to Raphael in the Vatican Stanze. 6
Bouguereau flawlessly portrays his female
figures in such flattering poses and settings that they are inherently
decorative, but to say that they are without meaning would be overlooking the
true intent of the artist’s passion. Was Bouguereau’s only objective to make an attractive painting? Of course not, but why is ‘decorative’ such
a damning word when used to describe art? How can a painting with every bit of ingenuity and executed with the
highest skill be overlooked simply because it is ‘pretty’? Should all art be a commentary on history,
politics or religion? Is it not
possible to be emotionally moved by something purely aesthetic? Is any painting purely aesthetic? Every painting is a reflection of the artist
who created it. Each choice made in the
creative process is influenced by the personal life and emotions of the
artist. As a result, all artwork, however
beautiful, will communicate a message to its viewer and each individual will
have their own interpretation of its meaning. This is the beauty of art.
In “Elegy”, Bouguereau deals with
mortality in a sensual image of a woman in mourning. It is unclear whom she is mourning, whether it is a lover or a
child. In a time of high mortality
rates for infants and children the image portrays a despair that was very
familiar to his audience. Though the
subject is delicate, Bouguereau does not take the image to the same level of
drama that his more playful images have. The figures are obvious in their emotional state, but subtle. He has created a balance of beauty and
sentiment so that one does not overshadow the other. Bouguereau’s choice to use a nude figure is daring because of the
subject of the painting. You would
expect the figures to be dressed in long black dresses and veils but the female
figure gracefully drapes her nude body over the column with great
delicacy. Her form, while sensual, is
filled with sorrow. Her vacant gaze
along with the careful angle of her limbs lead the viewer’s eye to the tearful
cherub nestled in the corner below. The
presence of the cherub, or Cupid, leads us to believe that the woman is not
mortal herself. The artist’s decision
to paint the figure nude can lead us to believe that she may be a goddess,
Aphrodite perhaps. More likely, the
figure is Bouguereau’s representation of the ‘Eternal Woman’. The ‘eternal woman’ embodies every woman:
mother, daughter, sister, and lover. This allows Bouguereau to paint the supple flesh of his model and maintain vulnerability in her
nudity. She is nondescript and
therefore a more universally recognizable representation of woman.
Bouguereau, Elegy.
1899, Oil on
canvas.
(http://artrenewal.com/asp/database/art.asp?aid=7&page=3)
Another example of the ‘eternal
woman’ can be seen in “Le Printemps”
(“The Return of Spring”). It is as
though the tender, winged cupids have just awoken from a long winter as they
rise from the green grass and spiral around the new arrival. The female figure holds herself as if
recalling an embrace and a passion within her has been discovered. The title of the painting and the ascent of
the cupids represent the birth of her sexuality and transition into womanhood. She is unashamed of her body or sexual
desires and expresses her elation with a blissful smile as the nine chubby
babies primp and pry with curiosity.
Bouguereau, Le Printemps. 1886, Oil on
Canvas.
http://artrenewal.com/asp/database/art.asp?aid=7&page=3
As soon as it was exhibited
in the Salon of 1886 it was accused of embodying “libertine tendencies.” Later, a chair was thrown through it when it
was shown in Omaha, Nebraska, in December 1890. The perpetrator claimed that he
saw red when he looked at it; He wanted to destroy it to protect the virtue of
women. When the artist and Elizabeth Gardner learned of the incident,
they were dismayed. Gardner wrote a
letter, “Nothing could be farther from Monsieur Bouguereau’s heart than to produce
an impure figure.” Bouguereau was very
proud of this painting, writing to his son-in-law, “I’m really thrilled with
this last painting; the attitude and expression of the young woman are, I
think, exactly right.” How far apart at
times are the artist’s stated intentions and the public’s perception. 7
Bouguereau’s intentions in
his art, however pure, were sure to be criticized for their use of the female
forms as such a confident nude figure. While Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Gustave Courbet’s nudes are
blatant in their sexuality, Bouguereau’s nudes are not ‘innocent’ but they are
certainly not overtly erotic. Bouguereau’s intention behind painting the naked body was to pay tribute
to the natural nudity that was so prominent in the art of the ancient Greeks
and Romans. 8
Bouguereau’s love of the
female form is evident in two of his paintings in particular, “Nymphs and Satyr” and “La Nymphee.” The two are quintessential examples of how
he has explored the dynamic possibilities of movement and silhouette in the
nude female figure. Using the same
model for all the nymphs, Bouguereau has an incredible skill in composing his
figures so their intertwining bodies meet, flesh to flesh, with great
ease. The more playful of the
two, “Nymphs and Satyr” displays
wonderful interaction between the characters that are carefree and full of
life. They are anxious in their
actions, giggling, as they playfully pull and tug at the ears and limbs of the
poor unwilling Satyr. The figure in the
foreground boldly catches the light with a soft, angelic glow on her
magnificent, alabaster backside. Bouguereau has filtered the light so that the brightest highlights rest
on the foreground figure that leads the viewer’s eye into the fateful
destination of the helpless Satyr. Water nymphs were also a favorite of fellow artist John William Waterhouse
who painted with a dramatically different mood. Waterhouse used one favorite model for all of his water nymphs
too, but the only thing that connects the characters is the still water. His were romantic images of sullen
seductresses wading in a wardrobe of placid water lilies.
The classical world and the tradition that evolved from it
offered Bouguereau endless motifs, most of them, it must be said, of
nudes. Bathers, nymphs, Venuses, and
allegories abound in his work, as they did in the paintings of many successful
Salon artists. Bouguereau recognized
that the human form was capable of being posed in endless variations. He explained his thinking in a lecture given
at the Institut de France in 1885. “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 sculpture?”9
Bouguereau, Nymphs and
Satyr. 1873, Oil on canvas.
http://artrenewal.com/asp/database/art.asp?aid=7&page=2
Two of Bouguereau’s favorite subjects were the
rural peasant girl and the shepherdess. He paints lovely young girls in old worn clothing reminiscent of the adolescents
of the Italian countryside. Though the
clothing and pastoral settings are accurate and rather exotic to the French
audience, Bouguereau’s figures are clean, pretty, and unaffected by the harsh
sun and exhausting labor of farm life. Many images include mothers and children, or siblings near an old well,
secluded meadow, or bathing on the bank of a quiet river. The mood of the models is somber, like some
deep secret hides behind their pensive eyes.
Bouguereau, La Cruche Cassee. 1891, Oil on Canvas.
http://artrenewal.com/asp/database/art.asp?aid=7&page=14
In “La Cruche Cassee” or “The Broken Pitcher”
Bouguereau has used an old cracked water jug and phallic water spigot to
represent the young girl’s loss of virginity. It was a symbol made popular by French painter Jean-Baptiste Greuze
whose images were much more erotic and shocking. Bouguereau hoped that his audience would see the association
between Greuze’s symbolism and his own.10 Bouguereau is subtle in
his suggestion of the girl’s violation. She sits at the end of the well, her hands clasped on her lap, with an
overwhelming feeling of sadness and embarrassment. The artist uses an uneasy placement of both the spout of the
pitcher and the spigot to aim towards the central placement of the figure. While Bouguereau is suggestive in his prop
selection and placement, there is nothing else that would lead us to believe
the underlying story. The painting could
most certainly be seen as a simple portrait if the viewer had no prior knowledge
of its symbolism.
Bouguereau’s auspicious career spanned over
fifty years. In that time he painted
over eight hundred paintings, won countless awards in several European
countries and in America, and was President of numerous art societies and
salons. It is he who succeeded in
persuading French academies to open their doors to women including his American
wife Elizabeth Jane Gardner. Elizabeth was also an accomplished painter and
studied under Bouguereau before later marrying him. After their marriage she put her painting aside to support her
husband fully. Upon his death in 1905
Elizabeth once again began to paint. While she was successful with her work, she would never approach the
celebrity status of her husband. Despite any criticism he has received for his ultra-rendered,
sentimental images Adolphe-William Bouguereau‘s paintings remain, to this day,
some of the finest examples of the painted figure.
Footnotes
6. Friona
Wissman on Bouguereau’s love of the female from. See page 7 and 34.
7. Wissman
on the destruction of one of Bouguereau’s paintings. See page 90.
8. Wissman explaining Bouguereau’s intentions in painting nudes. See page 87.
9. Quote from Bouguereau on the human body as his inspiration. See page 86.
9. Wissman on Bouguereau’s use of sexua l symbolism.
Wissman, Fronia E. Bouguereau. Rohnert Park: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1996.
