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Nothing softens a gallery wall like a painted surface. The Oreads by William-Adolphe Bouguereau arrives as a hand painted oil painting on canvas, offering the fine art detail, soft gradients, and tactile finish that fine art oil painting shoppers look for.
Les Oréades, 1902
Oil on canvas
237,5 x 181,5 cm
The Oreads are the nymphs of mountains and grottoes (the most well known is Echo), who were said to come out in joyful, lively groups to hunt deer, chase wild boar and bring down birds of prey with their arrows. At Diana’s signal, they would come running to join her, forming a dazzling retinue behind her. The 1902 catalogue for the Salon gave this lengthy commentary after the title of the painting: "The shadows are dissipating; dawn appears, radiant, and colours the mountain tops pink. Then a long procession soars up into the sky: it is the joyful band of nymphs who, during the night, frolicked in the shadow of the forests and by the still waters of the river; they take to the air, watched by the astonished fauns, to return to their own realm and the ethereal regions inhabited by the gods".
With this painting, Bouguereau shows himself to be firmly attached to his ideal of academic painting. As in another painting at Musée d'Orsay, The Assault, the mythological subject here is a pretext to demonstrate his outstanding drawing skills, capable of capturing all the attitudes and expressions of the human body. The mythological subject also enables him to introduce an erotic element without lapsing into bawdiness (the lust in the eyes of the Satyrs is, in this respect, unambiguous).
With this flight of female figures, Bouguereau boldly produced a painting that was highly imaginative and suffused with poetry, perceptible in the twilight landscape of the background, worthy of Corot, and tinged with Symbolist tones.
The fine art subject is rebuilt stroke by stroke in oil, giving the finished canvas the depth expected of realist oil painting wall decor.
This is a genuine hand painted oil painting, not a canvas print. Our painters match the palette of The Oreads by eye and build up the fine art forms in thin layers, which is what gives the finished fine art oil painting its luminosity.
Hang this fine art oil painting above a sofa, console, or bed to give a gallery wall an instant focal point. Its realist palette works with both minimalist and period interiors, and the piece also makes a considered gift for housewarmings, weddings, and art lovers.
| Size | Price |
|---|---|
| 30 X 40 in | $640.48 |
| 36 X 48 in | $925.98 |
| 48 X 72 in | $1,929.48 |
The sizes shown are the reproduction canvas sizes we paint to order. The dimensions given in a work's description refer to the original artwork and will differ from the sizes offered here. Not sure? Read the size guide or e-mail us.
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Every canvas is painted by hand in oils on artist-grade stretched canvas, with an extra blank border left for framing. How to care for your painting.
Measurements are on the size guide, or e-mail [email protected] and we reply within one business day.
