William Bouguereau

Arthur Tooth & Son, London, November 7, 1895 (acquired directly from the artist as Trilby)

Sale, New York, December 16, 1895

M. Vachon, W. Bouguereau, Paris: Lahure, 1900, p. 159

M. Walker, ``A Summary Catalogue of the Paintings,'' William-Adolphe Bouguereau L'Art Pompier, New York: Borghi & Company, 1991, p. 74

In Le gué, Bouguereau leads the viewer into the rural and timeless world that he cherished throughout his life, ingeniously crafting innumerable variations and paraphrases.

As early as 1863, Bouguereau began to seek inspiration in country life, a world within which he was raised, perfectly acquainted and profoundly treasured. Although Bouguereau interpreted rustic life in his usual idealized manner, he was also keenly aware of expert and public demand for his work.

In the current composition, Bouguereau presents a young shepherdess at the edge of a ford tentatively ready to cross the brook. The girl is situated within a beautiful rustic landscape, surrounded by aquatic plant life, bulrush and irises.

The majority of these canvases were generally painted during Bouguereau’s vacations in La Rochelle and other French regions and completed in his atelier in Paris (see lot 33 ). The model in the present work is well documented, as she posed for a number of compositions between 1894 and 1895, notable among them La cage vide and L’iris. Additionally, Bouguereau painted a 41 x 33 cm head study of this young girl in the same pose.