On the Shore (Two Sisters)

1896

William-Adolphe Bouguereau French, 1825-1905

On View

Era of Revolution, Level 3, South Wing

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About the Artwork

William-Adolphe Bouguereau achieved prominence in the official art establishment and public marketplace in France with his paintings of peasant subjects. Employing his hallmark technical skills, he painted young peasant girls, often caught in a moment of intimacy or sisterly affection. Barefoot, these girls wear timeless, pristinely clean dresses, which complement their smooth skin, seemingly untouched by working in the fields in the sun. The artist constructed these idealized images of rural childhood in his studio, working with local models who were daughters of his domestic help or farm workers near his home in La Rochelle. Sisters Yvonne and Jeanne, peasant girls from La Rochelle, posed for this painting.

Title On the Shore (Two Sisters)

Artwork Date 1896

Artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Life Dates 1825-1905

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. French

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 56 × 36 inches (142.2 × 91.4 cm) Framed: 72 3/8 × 52 7/8 × 6 inches (183.8 × 134.3 × 15.2 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Modern Art to 1970

Credit Gift of Charles Willis Ward

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 09.2

Markings

Signed Signed, lower left: W-BOVGVEREAV-1896

Provenance

March 11, 1897, sold by the artist to (Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, England);
March 1897, (Knoedler & Co., New York, USA);
June 14, 1898, (William O'Leary, Detroit, Michigan, USA);
by 1907, Charles Willis Ward [1856–1920] (Detroit, Michigan and New York, New York, USA);
1909-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Vachon, M. William Bouguereau. Paris, 1900, p. 159.

Burroughs, C. "A Bouguereau," Bulletin of the DMA 1, no. 13. (1907): pp. 3, 4.

Handbook of Modern Paintings. DMA. Detroit, 1910, pp. 9, 41, no. 94, (repr.).

Burroughs, C. Catalogue of paintings, sculpture and contemporary arts and crafts. DIA. Detroit, 1920, p. 92, no. 96.

Réau, Louis. L'Art Français aux Etats-Unis. Paris, 1926, p. 163 [as "Les deux sœurs"].

Two Sides of the Medal: French Paintings from Gerome to Gauguin. DIA. Detroit, 1954, pp. 21, 25, cat. 23, (repr.) [intro. by P. L. Grigaut].

New York, New York Cultural Center; Fairleigh Dickinson University; San Francisco, Fine Arts Museums,

Isaacson, R., complied by. William Adolphe Bouguereau. 1974/1975, no. 23, pp. 27, 50, (repr.).

Bartoli, Damien and Frederick C. Ross. William Bouguereau: His Life and Work. Woodbridge, Suffolk, and New York, 2010, p. 381 (ill.).

Bartoli, Damien and Frederick C. Ross. William Bouguereau: Catalogue Raisonné of His Painted Work. Woodbridge, Suffolk, and New York, 2010, pl. 240 (ill.).

Walker, Mark Steven. William-Adolphe Bouguereau: l’art pompier. New York, 1991, p. 74.

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