The Young Shepherdess

English

The Young Shepherdess: William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Price: Price on Request
Art Type: Oil Painting
Size:
English Comments: 0
International Comments: 0
Creating Date:
Introduction and Works of William-Adolphe Bouguereau >>

Contemporary-Art.org

Reproduction

Enlarge

William-Adolphe Bouguereau Oil Painting - The Young Shepherdess

Keywords: Young, Shepherdess

Work Overview: The Young Shepherdess
French: La jeune bergère
Artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Year 1885
Dimensions 157.5 cm × 72.4 cm (62.0 in × 28.5 in)
Location San Diego Museum of Art

The Young Shepherdess is an 1885 painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905). It is owned by the San Diego Museum of Art.

The painting depicts a barefoot young woman in peasant clothing, turned away from but still facing the viewer. She holds a plant in her hands. See also The Shepherdess, a similar painting by the same artist.

This and similar images by the artist attracted collectors in Europe and America because of their nostalgic content.[1] In such works the artist depicted a variety of poses and expressions, in this case showing the mild curiosity of the girl.[2]

In portraying a shepherdess Bouguereau is working within the pastoral mode or theme, as developed by ancient Greek and Hellenistic artists and poets. French painters who preceded him in this include Claude Lorrain, Poussin, and Watteau.

A quaint scene made beautiful with a subtle attention to detail and expression that help bring the picture to life.

This pastoral painting is made with subdued colours that convey a gentle peacefulness in the scene, and harkens back to the ideal view of a farmhand as she does her part to help with the livestock. She stands only with her sheep as they feed on a sea of grass near gentle rolling hills under an open sky.

Painted in 1885, The Young Shepherdess helps to evoke a nostalgic feeling in the viewer. It calls to mind a simpler life from much simpler times than today, free from the worries of modern urban life.

This woman is depicted as unthreatened and unburdened, not even wearing shoes to the pasture. All she holds is the carrot used to call the sheep to her when it is time to return them all back to their pens.

The skies are clear, the greenery is plentiful, and no danger is present. Only the winds pass by the pasture to threaten her carefully done up hair. Only the rare sound of a sheep bleating in the background breaks the peaceful silence. The rigours of city life are left far behind and out of sight.

William-Adolphe Bougereau's preference for traditional style paintings is showcased with The Young Shepherdess and other similar paintings he has done within the Pastoral theme.

He enjoyed painting rural settings such as the one shown in this painting here and in many other works he had done in his life. Much of his focus is on the subject and maintaining proper anatomy, lending to a more realistic painting that looks as though it could be a photograph instead of marks of oil on a canvas mounted to a board.

The little details in the painting as well, such as the wisps of hair blowing in the wind, the folds in the clothes that she wears, even the tiny creases in her neck as she turns towards the viewer, are also a defining trait of Bougereau's works.

They help lead to a more life-like subject, showing her as she lived in that one fragment of time. This high degree of finish can be seen in many of his other artworks as well.

Copyright Statement:
All the reproduction of any forms about this work unauthorized by Singing Palette including images, texts and so on will be deemed to be violating the Copyright Laws.
To cite this webpage, please link back here.

>> English Comments >> Chinese Comments >> French Comments >> German Comments >>Report

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Work Overview