WILLIAM BOUGUEREAU (La Rochelle, 1825-1905) PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG WOMAN IN PROFILE Original canvas Dedicated and signed lower right "to my friend Hervet / Wm Bouguereau". Small accidents Portrait of young women, original canvas, dedicated and signed lower right, small accidents 40,5 x 32,5 CM - 15,9 x 12,8 IN. In terms of size and dedication, our portrait is similar to the Portrait of the painter Édouard Brandon (sale, Saint-Ouen, Oxio, 5 December 2021). These works were generally intended for friends and family. William Bouguereau was one of the great exponents of French academic painting in the 19th century, renowned for his meticulous realism and neoclassical style. Bouguereau studied at the École des Beaux-arts in Paris and won the Prix de Rome in 1850. He enjoyed great success during his lifetime through Durand-Ruel. Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, he was criticised by all the avant-gardes, who considered his painting far too smooth and denounced his lack of innovation. It was not until the 1950s that the artist was completely rediscovered, thanks in particular to the support of artists such as Dali, who expressed his admiration for Bouguereau, and to the 1984 retrospective exhibition at the Petit Palais. Inspired by mythology and classical literature, Bouguereau succeeds in idealising the female figure in our painting.