Nymphs and Satyr

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Nymphs and Satyr: William-Adolphe Bouguereau

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William-Adolphe Bouguereau Oil Painting - Nymphs and Satyr

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Work Overview: Nymphs and Satyr
French: Nymphes et un satyre
Artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Year 1873
Medium oil on canvas
Dimensions 260 cm × 180 cm (100 in × 71 in)
Location Clark Art Institute

Three nymphs playfully drag a Satyr into a woodland pond, while a fourth calls to her companions in the distance. Satyrs—half-man, half-goat—were reputedly unable to swim. Bouguereau exhibited this painting, accompanied by a verse from the Latin poem that inspired it, at the 1873 Paris Salon. Its vaguely classical subject provided an ideal opportunity to demonstrate his skill painting the female nude from multiple viewpoints. An American collector immediately bought the work, which eventually ended up on display in the bar of New York City’s Hoffman House, where Sterling Clark first encountered it.

Nymphs and Satyr (French: Nymphes et un satyre) is a painting, oil on canvas, created by artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1873.

Nymphs and Satyr was exhibited in Paris at the 1873 Salon, which opened on 5 May[1], a year before the Impressionists mounted their first exhibition. One critic called it "the greatest painting of our generation".[2] Purchased for 35,000 francs by the American art collector and speculator John Wolfe on 26 June, 1873, it was displayed in his mansion for many years alongside other high-style French academic paintings. It was sold at auction in 1888, after which the painting was displayed in the bar of the Hoffman House Hotel, New York City until 1901, when it was bought and stored in a warehouse, the buyer hoping to keep its 'offensive' content from the public. Robert Sterling Clark discovered the piece in storage and acquired it in 1942. The piece is currently on display at the Clark Art Institute located in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

According to the Clark Institute, in the painting "a group of nymphs have been surprised, while bathing in a secluded pond, by a lascivious satyr. Some of the nymphs have retreated into the shadows on the right; others, braver than their friends, are trying to dampen the satyr's ardor by pulling him into the cold water -- one of the satyr's hooves is already wet and he clearly wants to go no further. Bouguereau’s working methods were traditional; he made a number of sketches and drawings of carefully posed human figures in complicated interconnected poses, linking them together in this wonderfully rhythmical composition."[3][4]

In the exhibition of 1873 it was displayed along with a verse from the ancient Roman poet, Publius Statius: “Conscious of his shaggy hide and from childhood untaught to swim, he dares not trust himself to deep waters.”[5]

The painting, the largest and one of the most beloved of the Clark collection, was cleaned prior to March 10, 2012 with the help of a grant from the Parnassus Foundation, courtesy of Jane and Raphael Bernstein.

The picture shows a lustful satyr surprising the nymphs. In the painting, several of the nymphs have withdrawn into the shadows on the right. The other nymphs that remain are braver.

We know this as we see them in the picture trying to dampen the satyr’s lust by dragging him into the pond’s cold water. Even though one of his hooves is already wet, he doesn’t want to go any further.

The first time that Nymphs and Satyr went on display was in Paris in 1873. Given the fascination that American’s had for his works, the painting was purchased by the collector John Wolfe.

He displayed the painting in his mansion alongside other important French academic paintings. It was in 1888 that the painting next changed owners when it went up for sale at auction.

For the next 13 years, the picture went on show in the bar of the Hoffman House Hotel. It was in 1901 that painting next changed owners when it was again sold. This time the painting disappeared from public view being stored in a warehouse.

It appears that the buyer wanted to keep what they saw as its ‘offensive’ content away from the public eye. In 1942 the painting reappeared when by Robert Sterling Clark found it in storage and acquired it. It is now on display at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

While Bouguereau’s work revealed an idealised world, his paintings had an almost photo-like style. He had studied painting in an academic style. This gave prominence to historical and mythological subjects.

The result was that in creating his many works, Bouguereau made use of traditional methods of working. This included detailed pencil drawings and oil sketches. Often these would be drawings of carefully posed human figures to create poses that linked them together in a beautifully balanced arrangement. His careful approach to his work meant that he was able to show us the female human form in such a way that was both pleasing and accurately rendered.

To many, he typified taste and sophistication, along with respect for tradition. All of this led to Bouguereau’s style being popular with rich art patrons, particularly Americans.

Although at the time, he was very famous however today his works, and his style receives little attention compared with the Impressionist movement that existed at the same time. Bouguereau undertook numerous commissions during his career.

These involved the decoration of private houses, public buildings and churches. While he was very much of the academic style in his paintings on some occasions, he would instead follow an existing group style.

Born in 1825 in La Rochelle, France the artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter. An accomplished painter who won many awards, Bouguereau was very much a conservative artist and Academic painter.

This led to him producing convincing genre paintings as well as those with mythological themes. It is for such work that he is perhaps best known. His paintings took a fresh look at classical subjects with the emphasis being on the female body. One such painting is Nymphs and Satyr.

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William-Adolphe Bouguereau

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