Searching for Bouguereau

[David Draime]

Last year (April

[SB Wang]

It was then clear to me that his true monument was not to be found in a cemetery in Paris. It consists of the hundreds of sublime paintings he has bequeathed to us and future generations.

David:
An interesting and rare contribution.
http://www.superstock.co.uk/stock-ph...phy/Bouguereau

For comparision:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panth%C3%A9on_%28Paris%29

[Mischa Milosevic]

David, I can appreciate your enthusiasm for I too, some five years ago, had my moments. I even went to La Rochelle where he had his family home. I also had my moments of pleasure at the Musee D

[Michael Georges]

David:

An interesting pilgrimage, and one worth doing I think! Did you ever find any of his paintings? I heard from someone that they supposedly have them in a side annex of the Louvre...

[SB Wang]

David:
Admire your enthusiasm.
I'm wondering that someone may research on this, the relation of condition of one's death with life: is a peaceful life usually ends with the same kind death? Sargent is a sample.

http://magliery.com/Graphics/MoreFra...inci-tomb.html

[Julie Deane]

Thanks for sharing your story, David.

His paintings seem to crop up in places you would not expect:

http://www.appletonmuseum.org/european.shtml

This is also interesting and perhaps extra copies of the catalog are available: http://www.appletonmuseum.org/exhibi...au010607.shtml

[Peter Dransfield]

I guess with Bouguereau the position to take is never mind the content admire the technique but is that really enough? I find it difficult to understand people's interest in hiim. What are people seeing that I am not?

[SB Wang]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Linnocence.jpg

Juliette Binoche, daughter of an actress and a sculptor, was only 23 when she first attracted the attention of international film critics with The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988). Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times film critic with an international following of his books on film and TV reviews, wrote that she was "almost ethereal in her beauty and innocence". That innocence was gone by the time Binoche completed Louis Malle's Damage (1992) (aka "Fatale").
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3354694144/tt0096332

[David Draime]

Originally Posted by SB Wang

David:
An interesting and rare contribution.
http://www.superstock.co.uk/stock-ph...phy/Bouguereau
For comparision:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panth%C3%A9on_%28Paris%29

Westminster Abbey - now that's where you want to be buried - good company!! Interesting to read all the various bio's there. Thanks for the links.

[David Draime]

Originally Posted by Mischa Milosevic

I even went to La Rochelle where he had his family home.

Mischa, thanks for sharing - the photos are great! Did you see any sites related to Bouguereau, his home? Any paintings? Did you see his "The Flagellation of Our Lord Jesus Christ" in the Cathedral of La Rochelle?

You know when I went to the Musee D'Orsay, I went to see Bouguereau's "The Birth of Venus" (the one in your photo) and the room was roped off - closed! They said they were repainting the walls. I went back a week later - still closed!! They said the work was finished but there were still paint smells in the room. I told them that as an artist, I inhale much worse every day, and could they please let me in for a few minutes. I wasn't charming enough, so I didn't get to see it.