William Bouguereau

The subject of this beautiful portrait has been recently identified as Gabrielle Cot.  Her father, the artist Pierre Auguste Cot, was both a contemporary of Bouguereau's and a major artist in his own right, having painted his most famous work, The Storm, in 1880 (now hanging in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).  

Bouguereau made this jewel of a work, though small by the artist's standards, into a highly polished picture.  He signed and dated it, which he only did for pictures he considered complete. Certainly, the exceptional quality of this small portrait justifies its treatment as a finished work in its own right, perhaps the only portrait Bouguereau made without commission outside the members of his family.

This work is an excellent example of a study transformed into a masterpiece.  The viewer senses the subtlest nuances of personality and mood; her gaze conveys great joie de vivre, and seems bemused, yet vulnerable. The rendering of her dress and hair create a striking symphony of whites, grays and pinks which offset her exceptional beauty with characteristic mastery.