View source for Nymphs and Satyr

{{Short description|Painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau}}
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file         = William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - Nymphs and Satyr (1873) HQ.jpg
| painting_alignment = 
| image_size         = 250px
| other_language_1   = French
| other_title_1      = Nymphes et Satyre
| other_language_2   = 
| artist             = [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]]
| year               = {{start date|1873}}
| material           = Oil on canvas
| height_metric      = 260
| width_metric       = 180
| museum             = [[Clark Art Institute]]
| city               = Williamstown
}}
'''''Nymphs and Satyr''''' ({{langx|fr|Nymphes et Satyre}}) is an [[Oil painting|oil on canvas]] painting created by the French artist [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]] in 1873. The painting depicts a [[satyr]] and a group of [[Nymph|nymphs]] from [[Greek mythology]].

''Nymphs and Satyr'' was exhibited in Paris at the 1873 [[Paris Salon|Salon]], which opened on 5 May,<ref>Bartoli, Damien and Ross, Frederick C. ''William Bouguereau: His Life and Works'', 2010</ref> a year before the [[Impressionists]] mounted their first exhibition. It was displayed along with a verse from the ancient Roman poet, Publius [[Statius]]: "Conscious of his shaggy hide and from childhood untaught to swim, he dares not trust himself to deep waters."<ref>Mozley, J.H., translator. ''Statius''. Volume 1. Loeb Classical Library. New York. 1928. p. 110.</ref>

One critic called it "the greatest painting of our generation".<ref>Bartoli, Damien and Ross, Frederick C. ''William Bouguereau: His Life and Works'', 2010</ref> Purchased for 35,000 francs by the American art collector and speculator John Wolfe on 26 June, 1873, it was displayed in his mansion for many years alongside other high-style French [[Academic art|academic paintings]]. It was sold at auction in 1888, after which the painting was displayed in the bar of the Hoffman House Hotel, [[New York City]] until 1901, when it was bought and stored in a warehouse, the buyer hoping to keep its 'offensive' content from the public. [[Robert Sterling Clark]] discovered the piece in storage and acquired it in 1942. The piece is currently on display at the [[Clark Art Institute]] located in [[Williamstown (town), Massachusetts|Williamstown, Massachusetts]].

According to the Clark Institute, in the painting, which is based on the Greek mythology, "a group of [[nymphs]] have been surprised, while bathing in a secluded pond, by a lascivious [[satyr]]. Some of the nymphs have retreated into the shadows on the right; others, braver than their friends, are trying to dampen the satyr's ardor by pulling him into the cold water – one of the satyr's hooves is already wet and he clearly wants to go no further. Bouguereau’s working methods were traditional; he made a number of sketches and drawings of carefully posed human figures in complicated interconnected poses, linking them together in this wonderfully rhythmical composition."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clarkart.edu/Collection/6158|title=Nymphs and Satyr|publisher=The Clark Now}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clarkart.edu/about/press/content.cfm?ID=3229&year=2010|title=Explore Bouguereau's Nymphs and Satyr during lunchtime talk on June 10 at the Clark|year=2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021125821/http://clarkart.edu/about/press/content.cfm?ID=3229&year=2010|archivedate=2012-10-21}}</ref>

The painting, the largest and one of the most beloved of the Clark collection, was cleaned prior to March 10, 2012, with the help of a grant from the [[Parnassus Foundation]], courtesy of Jane and Raphael Bernstein.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clarkart.edu/museum/content.cfm?ID=427|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121210194918/http://www.clarkart.edu/museum/content.cfm?ID=427|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-12-10|title=Bouguereau Weekend at Stone Hill Center March 10 and 11}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[commons:William-Adolphe Bouguereau|William-Adolphe Bouguereau gallery]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{commons category|Nymphs and Satyr by William-Adolphe Bouguereau}}
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bouguereau/ William-Adolphe Bouguereau at the Web Museum]

{{William-Adolphe Bouguereau}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nymphs and Satyr}}
[[Category:Mythological paintings by William-Adolphe Bouguereau]]
[[Category:1873 paintings]]
[[category:Nude paintings of men]]
[[Category:Nude paintings of women]]
[[Category:Paintings in the Clark Art Institute]]
[[Category:Oil on canvas paintings]]
[[Category:Paintings of nymphs]]
[[Category:Paintings of satyrs]]