William Bouguereau, The Story Book, 1877
William Bouguereau was fifty-two years old when he painted this picture. He lived until 1905. And here I shall end my attempt at synopsis. There are many things students of history should know beside politics, and Bouguereau is the one artist whose story best summarizes the decapitation of western art.
Spoiler—Reviled, scorned and denounced for decades by the grasping cretins behind "modern art", specifically and by name, his reputation and works have reemerged spectacularly and set records for prices paid.
This was not a stand alone event, it's an ongoing part of the assault on western civilization. For further reading see these classic essays,
William Bouguereau and The Real 19th Century by Fred Ross, and
The Great 20th Century Art Scam by Fred Ross. The "long march through the institutions" was a wider effort than most imagine.
For those interested to know more of this artist, I refer you to the Biography of William Bouguereau, by Damien Bartoli with Fred Ross, at the Art Renewal Center. Here are some excerpts from Mr. Ross's introduction:
"William Bouguereau is unquestionably one of history's greatest artistic geniuses. Yet in the past century, his reputation and unparalleled accomplishments have undergone a libelous, dishonest, relentless and systematic assault of immense proportions. His name was stricken from most history texts and when included it was only to blindly degrade and disparage him and his work ..."
Mr. Ross includes his estimate of Bouguereau's rightful place in the pantheon:
"... arguably the greatest painter of the human figure in all of art history. His figures come to life like no previous artist has ever before or ever since achieved. He wasn't just the best ever at painting human anatomy, more importantly he captured the tender and subtlest nuances of personality and mood".
Art historians have never been short on hyperbole.