William Bouguereau’s realistic, sometimes sentimental style came to represent the academic tradition in nineteenth century French art. He was both a commercial and critical success, exhibiting often in the French Salon and serving as President of the French Academy. His disciplined method of painting entailed the creation of preliminary drawings, precise rendering forms in space and concealing every brush stroke under a highly finished surface. At the end of the nineteenth century, modernist artists including the Impressionists challenged the artistic conventions at the center of the academic tradition.
“This work has haunted me since I was little…the girl’s eyes have a piercing, haunting quality to them. Her gaze seems to follow one around the room and her image follows me in my mind long after I leave.” – anonymous