Reflection 1898

“Reflection” was made by William Bouguereau, likely sometime in the late 19th century, with oil paints on canvas. Bouguereau was a master of the academic style, a tradition that prized technical skill above all. The smooth, almost porcelain-like finish he achieved speaks to a laborious, painstaking process. Unlike impressionists, who celebrated the visible brushstroke, Bouguereau would have strived to make his technique invisible. To achieve this glossy realism took years of apprenticeship and a great deal of dedicated labor in the studio. In its own way, this intense commitment to craft can be seen as a response to the rise of industrial production. Bouguereau was insisting on the value of human touch, even as machines were transforming the world around him. So, while the subject of this painting may seem timeless, its making was very much of its moment.