William BOUGUEREAU (1825-1905). Bust of a brunette woman, study. Oil on canvas. (Old restorations.) Height 40.5 cm; Width: 32.5 cm. Provenance: - Preserved in the artist's descendants to this day. This work could be a preparatory work for a work by the artist kept at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux and dated 1859. Théophile GAUTIER wrote of this work: "A widow, still beautiful, is kneeling before a tomb. She raises her eyes to heaven, as if searching for the soul whose remains lie beneath the earth, with a long resigned look, while her young daughter hides a face drenched in tears in her mother's bosom. What a beautiful group to place on a tombstone, one would make of this painting sculpted in marble! In a work of pure feeling like this, we readily forget the technical details. However, we would like to point out the artistry with which these black fabrics, which absorb light and are so difficult to shape, are treated. These sad dresses have all the nobility of antique draperies.