La sérieuse 1905

William Bouguereau painted this oil on canvas, La Sérieuse, at the end of the 19th century. It depicts a young girl with a water jug. But more than that, it invites us to consider the social roles available to young women in France at this time, and the politics of representing those roles. Through a classical style, Bouguereau depicts the girl with careful realism, yet, she is also idealized. Note the fine rendering of her skin, the slightly romanticized features. We can ask, how does this image negotiate the boundary between the real and the ideal? What does it tell us about the institutions that shaped French art at the time? Consider the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which promoted a conservative style of painting, a powerful institution that Bouguereau himself was actively involved in. To understand the painting's nuances, we can look at the visual culture of France at this time: popular prints, photographs, and literature. Bouguereau's La Sérieuse is a product of a specific time and place, and to truly appreciate it, we need to understand the social and institutional forces that shaped its creation.