“Beginning in 1865, Bouguereau became interested in themes of mothers and children and he began a series of paintings devoted to this subject matter. These classically informed images were greatly influenced by Bouguereau’s travels throughout Italy in the 1850s…Le lever is the second painting executed that year by the artist and in this work, Bouguereau has created and exploited a myriad of tender gestures a mother can extend to her child. In a softly lit room, a young mother gently kisses the forehead of her little daughter, whose upturned face is lit by the first rays of dawn. The background of the painting is obscured in shadow, a reference to the night’s sleep which has just ended, also alluded to by the barely discernible outline of the child’s small bed in the darkness. The mother is richly dressed in an Italianate costume; her white, intricate eyelet-decorated blouse offered in sharp contrast to her rich, heavy, deep brown voluminous skirt and sash embroidered in fully saturated greens, reds and blues. Her young child is clothed completely in white, emphasizing her youth, innocence and purity. The artist has brought both figures close to the picture plane, thereby heightening the visual impact of the intensely tender interaction of the young mother and child.
READ FULL ESSAY: Christie’s
Read More
William Adolphe Bouguereau at The Art Story
William Adolphe Bouguereau at wikiwand
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William Adolphe Bouguereau at wikimedia commons
William Adolphe Bouguereau wikidata chart of all paintings
William Adolphe Bouguereau at Art Renewal Center
William-Adolphe Bouguereau at Google Arts and Culture
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~Sunnyside
At Sunnyside - Where Truth and Beauty Meet 
How beautiful this is! That lace! Thank you!
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Yes – that lace! How on earth did he do that????!
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This is simply stunning 🙂🙏💕
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I’m so pleased you enjoy this, Patti. He is a master, indeed! 😎
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🙂🙂🙂
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I’ve never come across an arrangement like this one: “William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born in 1825 in La Rochelle, a traditionally Protestant city on France’s south-west coast. His father was a modestly successful wine and olive oil merchant and a Roman Catholic, while his mother was from a middle-class Calvinist family. Compromising on their children’s religious education, they decided to raise their sons as Catholic and their daughters as Protestant. “
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Nor have I, Steve. I wonder what they were thinking?!
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I’m sometimes astonished by a painter’s ability to convey details. That blouse is quite an example. The most curious detail is the bit of sky-blue ribbon peeking out from under the child’s arm. I suspect it was part of the mother’s bodice.
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I had not noticed that! Thanks, Linda.
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What mastery!
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Yes! lol I cannot even imaging how tirelessly he must have worked to produce this. 🙂
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I know! Passion for our art makes all the difference.
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😎❤️🙏
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Thanks for sharing this back in the time .Anita
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My pleasure, Anita. 🙂
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