Artwork Page for A Calling

Details / Information for A Calling

A Calling

1896

William Adolphe Bouguereau

(French, 1825–1905)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
oil on fabric
Measurements
Framed: 132 x 99 x 10.6 cm (51 15/16 x 39 x 4 3/16 in.); Unframed: 104 x 71 cm (40 15/16 x 27 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Frances W. Ingalls Trust 1996.272
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Seated on a stone step in the countryside, a young girl has realized that her calling in life is to be an artist. Bouguereau was famous for his innovative depictions of children. In 1900 a critic wrote, "[F]ew artists have represented childhood with more tenderness, charm, and spirit than Bouguereau . . . [H]e has invented the most picturesque, the most pleasing, the most original scenes of an almost endless variety." Bouguereau was no less famous for his remarkably life-like images. Here he convincingly captures the girl's rough clothing, soft skin, and intense gaze. Bouguereau painted this work in La Rochelle, a harbor city on France's west coast. During the later years of his life, Bouguereau—by then wealthy and famous—made a habit of spending summers in La Rochelle. There the artist lived in a mansion he owned near the port, working in a greenhouse he had converted into a studio or in the countryside. While in La Rochelle, Bouguereau chose his models from among farm workers, families of local fishermen, or his own servants.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a young girl with light skin tone sitting on a stone block, looking toward us. She wears a white, lace-trimmed top and a long, pink skirt. A blue bow rests in her short brown hair. Barefoot, she holds a red pencil to an open notebook on her lap. Lush green foliage and small yellow flowers fill the dark, blurred background behind her.

A Calling

1896

William Adolphe Bouguereau

(French, 1825–1905)
France, 19th century

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