id: 150022 accession number: 1980.238 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1980.238 updated: 2023-03-11 20:51:14.132000 Arion on a Sea Horse and Bacchante on a Panther (pair), 1855. William Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825–1905). Oil on fabric; framed: 87.3 x 127 x 5.4 cm (34 3/8 x 50 x 2 1/8 in.); unframed: 71.3 x 111.8 cm (28 1/16 x 44 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.238 title: Arion on a Sea Horse and Bacchante on a Panther (pair) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1855 creation date earliest: 1855 creation date latest: 1855 current location: 201 French Neoclassical Painting & Sculpture creditline: Bequest of Noah L. Butkin copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: oil on fabric department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * William Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825–1905) - artist William Adolphe Bouguereau started drawing at an early age but did not take lessons until 1834, his first year in college in Pons, where his instructor was Louis Sage, who had been a pupil of Ingres (q.v.). In 1841 Bouguereau's father, a wine merchant, moved the family to Bordeaux. The following year he was allowed to attend the École Municipale de Dessin et de Peinture, where he studied under Jean-Paul Alaux. Bouguereau became a bookkeeper for another wine merchant in order to meet the cost of the school. By 1844 he had won the first prize for figure painting, which further encouraged him to pursue his art career. He lived with his uncle in Mortagne from 1845 until 1846, painted portraits of the local landowners, and saved enough money to move to Paris. In 1846 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and studied under François-Édouard Picot (1786-1868). After several attempts, he finally won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1850. He lived at the Villa Medici in Rome and studied Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, Giotto's Paduan frescos, and those at San Francesco in Assisi. The impact of these works appeared in Bouguereau's oeuvre in the form of classical poses, restraint, and a high degree of finish. After his return to France, Bouguereau exhibited regularly at the Salon, concentrating on classical, genre, and religious themes. In 1858 he was commissioned to decorate his first public building-the Chapel of St. Louis in St. Clotilde Church in Paris. Other public commissions followed, including the chapels of St. Pierre-Paul and St. Jean-Baptiste at St. Augustin Church in Paris, the cupola decorations in the cathedral in La Rochelle, and the ceiling of the Grand Theater of Bordeaux. Bouguereau remained in France during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), fighting in the National Guard. Afterward he taught at the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1876 he fulfilled a lifelong goal, being elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France. He received the Legion of Honor in 1878 and was a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1888. Bouguereau's support of the academy and his interest in classicism caused a fall in his popularity at the end of his life. Nevertheless, he died a successful, wealthy artist. --- measurements: Framed: 87.3 x 127 x 5.4 cm (34 3/8 x 50 x 2 1/8 in.); Unframed: 71.3 x 111.8 cm (28 1/16 x 44 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed lower right: wb [in monogram] / 1855 translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1980 opening date: 1981-06-24T04:00:00 Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Commissioned by Anatole Bartholoni, Paris. Paris sale, Drouot, 27 April 1933 (lot 32), Arion chevauchant un monstre marin (lot 33), Bacchante sur une panthère (repr.), Shepherd Gallery, New York, 1972. Christopher Gibbs Ltd., London, 1973. London sale, Sotheby's, 30 November 1977 (lot 208), Arion sur un dauphin; Bacchante sur une panthère (repr.), £6500. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1980. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: These paintings are from a series of eight works that Bouguereau painted for a Parisian home decorated in the style inspired by ancient Roman wall paintings found at Pompeii. The ancient Greek poet Arion escaped pirates by fleeing on the back of a sea creature attracted by the poet's singing. In the companion picture, a bacchante, a female follower of the Roman god Bacchus, rides a panther and carries a pinecone-tipped spear called a thyrsus. The figures are silhouetted against a gold honeycomb–patterned background evoking ancient Roman mosaics Bouguereau had studied in Italy. The soft, waxy flesh tones and glimmering gold leaf were calculated to come to life when viewed under the mansion's gas lighting. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Weeda, Eddy, Joop Schaminée and Nils van Rooijen. Botanische meesterwerken: bij het 170-jarig bestaan van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Botanische Vereniging. 2016. page number: url: Jullian, Philippe. "The Symbolists." Architectural Digest 31 (January/February 1975): 58-63. page number: Reproduced: P. 59 url: Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219. page number: Mentioned: P. 182, 211, nos. 27 & 28 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25159730 Wissman, Fronia E. Bouguereau. San Francisco: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1996. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 22-24, pls. 4 & 5 url: Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 76-79, Vol. I, cat. nos. 29, 30 url: Bartoli, Damien, and Frederick C. Ross. William Bouguereau. Woodbridge Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club in cooperation with the Art Renewal Center, 2010. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: Vol. II, p. 41, nos. 1855/03A, 1855/03B url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.238/1980.238_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.238/1980.238_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.238/1980.238_full.tif