Bouguereau Book Grant

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ARC is pleased to announce that 100 two volume sets of the Bouguereau Biography and Catalogue Raisonné are being donated to ARC approved ateliers, reference libraries, and museums, so that art students and art lovers around the world will have access to this monumental book.

The book itself is the conclusion of a 30 year effort by a small determined team of 19th Century Art experts. The Catalog Raisonné which was jointly published by the Art Renewal Center® and the Antique Collectors Club, is a two-volume boxed set which illustrates the complete oeuvre of this great master, including information on all of William Bouguereau's 828 known paintings, as well as the entire 600 page biography written by Damien Bartoli, with Fred Ross, ARC Chairman and President of the Bouguereau Committee.

The huge scope of Bouguereau's work was immensely famous and popular in his own time and then was suppressed for nearly a century, resurfacing in 1980 when the Met hung 2 of his works. His popularity has gained momentum steadily ever since, and today he is widely recognized as the most popular and beloved of the Academic artists who preceded Impressionism. His diverse work spans monumental religious and mythical compositions, but most beloved are his deeply touching scenes exploring the depths of human emotion from early childhood through young adulthood. His poetic renderings of the psychology of youth are married to impeccable technical perfection, found in an unparalleled number of original and powerful masterpieces.

Below is a list of all book donations to date, we still have 22 left to go out and are currently compiling a list of Libraries and Museums that are still missing this monumental work:

Other Major Libraries we have identified as having the Bouguereau Catalogue Raisonné

  • Brown Fine Arts Library, Houston, TX
  • Clark Museum Library, Williamstown, MA
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (Ingalls Library and Museum Archives)
  • Columbia University Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, New York, NY
  • Cornell Fine Arts Library, Ithaca, NY
  • The Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI
  • Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco has a copy for visitors to view in their book store.
  • Frick Art Museum and Library, New York, NY
  • H. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
  • Jean Outland Chrysler Library, Norfolk, VA
  • The Mary R. Schiff Library and Archives, Cincinnati, OH
  • Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
  • Memorial Art Center, University of Rochester, NY
  • National Art Library V&A, London, UK
  • National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, D.C.
  • The New York Public Library, New York, NY
  • Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • Saint Louis Art Museum Library, Saint Louis, MO
  • Spencer Art Reference Library, Kansas City, MO
  • Syracuse University Art Collection, Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY
  • Thomas J. Watson Library, New York, NY
  • The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
  • UCLA Hammer Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (UCLA Arts Library)
  • University of Michigan Fine Arts Library, Ann Arbor, MI
  • The William Morris Hunt Memorial Library and The W. Van Alan Clark Jr. Library, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA