William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Alma Parens - 1883 - oil on canvas
I was looking at this at the Portland Art Museum today (didn’t that room used to be painted green?). It’s a lovely treasure to have there; I’ve gone to see it several times. Bouguereau’s work is almost unforgivably glowing, and mawkish - but undeniably beautiful and exquisitely painted. I only like his work in person, where one can see the translucency of the skin. Reproductions (like this sad one here) have none of the presence and power of the original.
