William Bouguereau - Breton Brother and Sister [1871]

William Bouguereau - Breton Brother and Sister [1871], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Bouguereau made his fortune by producing idyllic images of women and children for enthusiastic American collectors. As a critic of the time explained, "Whoever gets a picture by Bouguereau gets the full worth of his money, in finished painting, first-rate drawing, and a subject and treatment that no well-bred person can…fault."

This picture is one of several works that the artist based on sketches made while summering in Brittany in the late 1860s. It was completed in his studio in 1871; Catharine Lorillard Wolfe’s father, the real estate and hardware baron John David Wolfe (1792–1872), purchased the painting from the New York gallery M. Knoedler & Co. in November of that year, just six months before his death. He left the picture to his daughter along with a considerable fortune, which she channeled into her increasingly ambitious activities as a collector and philanthropist. By the time of her death in 1887, she was said to have given away over four million dollars.

[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil on canvas, 129.2 x 89.2 cm]