Musée d'Orsay Aquires Bouguereau Paintings

'L'ssaut,' 1898, 60 in x 41 in by by William Bouguereau, (1825-1905). (Courtesy of Musee d'Orsay)

Five recent acquisitions of painting by William Bouguereau, (1825–1905) were made by the Musée d’Orsay (Museum d’Orsay) in France, one of France’s premier museums of 19th century art.

The paintings acquired by the Museum d’Orsay contribute to a renewed interest in Bouguereau’s work. His paintings in the 1960s sold for about a few thousand dollars each. The same paintings now sell for millions at auction.

The technical mastery and his unparalleled ability to capture slight, calm emotions have lent his work a surreal quality of perfection. It wasn’t uncommon to see lines of people waiting to get a glimpse of Bouguereau’s paintings in the salons of his day.

Bouguereau often played on mythological and historical themes the public could easily recognize and accept. One of the five acquisitions, “L’Assaut,” with the woman clasping her chest, suggests a deep love. The cherubs completely flanking her on all sides hint that there is no way out for her. The woman’s face has a hidden pain, her emotions are bitter-sweet.

In another of the paintings, “Dante et Virgile au Enfers,” translated loosely as “Dante and Virgil in Hell,” Bouguereau captures a scene from “Dante’s Inferno,” a book popular in the Romantic era. It is a painting in stark contrast to all of his other works and a theme he never touched upon again.

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