11/09/2026
Finished.
It took just over 2 months to complete this one in pencil covering 19x24 inches and what a result.
Copy of William Bouguereau's 'Les Oréades' 1902.
The Oreads are nymphs of the mountains and caves (the most famous being Echo), known for emerging in lively and joyous groups to hunt deer, pursue boar, and pierce birds of prey with their arrows. At Diana's signal, they rush to join her games and form a brilliant retinue. The 1902 Salon catalogue, after the title, provides this lengthy commentary: "The darkness dissipates; radiant dawn appears and colors the mountain peaks with a rosy hue. Then a long procession flies toward the sky; it is the joyous troop of Nymphs who, during the night, frolicked in the shade of the great woods, by the banks of the tranquil river; they leave the earth, and, before the astonished eyes of the fauns, return to their homeland and the ethereal realms where the gods dwell."
With this painting, Bouguereau demonstrates his unwavering commitment to his ideal of academic painting. As in another painting in the Musée d'Orsay, The Assault , mythology here serves as a pretext for showcasing his breathtaking talent as a draftsman, capable of capturing every nuance of the human body. Mythology also allows him to explore the erotic (the lustful gaze of the Satyrs is, in this respect, unambiguous), without, however, descending into bawdiness.
With this profusion of female figures, Bouguereau dares to create a painting of unbridled imagination, without neglecting a poetic touch, evident in the extraordinary twilight landscape of the background, worthy of Corot, and tinged with Symbolist accents.
