William-Adolphe BOUGUEREAU – Best Paintings (What made him a SUCCESSFUL Artist?) (HD)

Adolphe-William Bouguereau [boo-ger-OH] was the most popular French artist of the late 1800s. Crowds of people attended the annual Salon to see his latest canvases, and the wealthy clamored to purchase them for enormous sums. While the public cheered, critics booed. In this video, we will explain why he became extremely successful. Some critics even insulted him and said “he is excessively particular.” Bouguereau’s mirror-smooth, romanticized paintings of cupids, nudes, and peasant girls were not good enough for some. For some, Bouguereau’s flawless technique, graceful compositions, and poignant portraits made him one of the most accomplished artists of his age. For others, the artist represents everything that was negative about 19th-century academic art. His paintings had stock characters, were overly sentimental, and were socially and artistically conservative. But both the critics and admirers agreed that Bouguereau was a remarkably skilled painter.