The Broken Pitcher

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The Broken Pitcher: William-Adolphe Bouguereau

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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William-Adolphe Bouguereau Oil Painting - The Broken Pitcher

Keywords: Broken, Pitcher

Work Overview: The Broken Pitcher
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Date: 1891
Style: Realism
Genre: portrait
Media: oil, canvas
Dimensions: 133 x 85.5 cm
Location: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, US

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Seems like I’m shifting focus a little… Researching the French Rococo painters led me down an interesting path. I have complained that the modern sexualisation debate lacks historical depth. The leaders of the anti-sexualisation debate argue that the sexualisation of children is a new phenomenon. Clearly it isn’t.

As I have said, sexualisation implies a deviation from a norm. That norm is often assumed; rarely articulated. I believe there are two norms. The norm of the moral conservatives, which has been constructed from a late 19th century Protestant notion of childhood innocence; and the norm of feminist ideology, an ideal where the girl is free from patriarchal objectification.

By looking back into art history we can see how each era treated the child. In the Rococo period a very popular theme was the seduction of young, barely post-pubertal women. Indeed, the barely post-pubertal adolescent was seen as a highly desirable prize and young peasant girls were seen as naturally sexually precocious and available; in contrast to the bourgeois or aristocratic girl who was to be the virginal bride.

From an historical perspective we can argue that the adolescent girl has been de-sexualised. Of course, much of this is a good and necessary thing. No doubt many a peasant or working class girl suffered rape and unwanted pregnancies. Let’s not kid ourselves that they had the power to say no.

But if we set aside that obvious political point and look at it from the perspective of semiotics then we can see that the trope of the sexually wanton adolescent has a long history. We should not therefore, be surprised that it keeps recurring. Art constantly references itself and themes and tropes are reworked. And one of those themes (and a very insistent one at that) is the awakening of sexual awareness during puberty along with the loss of sexual innocence. Thus when the ignorant masses expressed shock that photographer Bill Henson was interested in this theme they revealed the shallowness of their understanding of art history.

In painting The Broken Pitcher (1891) William-Adolphe Bouguereau was referencing a familiar trope and an earlier work by Greuze. But this work is even more shocking because of the apparent age of the girl. She looks prepubertal. Could Bouguereau really be suggesting she has lost her virginity? There is something ambiguous in this painting. Perhaps the symbol of the broken pitcher has a broader meaning? She does not look afraid and although she looks sad, she isn’t crying. Her posture suggests acceptance, as if she is waiting. But for what?

In any case this is a picture that sexualises the girl, but you would have to know the symbolism and the history to understand how. Many modern people regard the work of Bouguereau to be innocent, cute even. A deeper look reveals several sexual symbols. Of course, he is making moral statements, yet even these are not clear. In any case, I’ll be returning to Bouguereau…
http://novelactivist.com/9224/william-adolphe-bouguereau-the-broken-pitcher/

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William-Adolphe Bouguereau

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