Published on 9 August, 2013

It should be remembered that in the 1990s William Bouguereau was first being re-evaluated by the then contemporary art world. He was still disparaged by most scholars, but he was already revered as a mentor by most of artists of the Classical Realist Movement. Mr. Ross was one of the first scholars to write respectfully of Bouguereau's accomplishments and to realize that he was one of the great artistic geniuses of art history. Ross then went on to support the writing of the William Bouguereau Biography and Catalog Raisonné and was the co-author with Damien Bartoli of these books. He is the present day world expert on Bouguereau since Mr. Bartoli's unexpected death. Now Ross has much company from those who openly write about Bouguereau's greatness and almost all scholars finally recognize Bouguereau as an artist of historical significance. On page 14 Mr. Ross makes reference to the highest price that a painting by Bouguereau went for at the time the article was written: $520,000. Today, of course, Bouguereau's work brings these prices regularly with more major pieces going for one to three million, the highest price being $3,500,000 for his 1878 work of La Charité.

It should also be noted that since this article was written, new evidence on the relationship of Bouguereau, the Academy and Impressionism has been revealed. To read and understand the true story of what happened please look volume one of the William Bouguereau Biography and Catalog Raisonné.

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