William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a 19th-century French Neoclassical painter who was one of the most dominant figures in art during his lifetime. A traditionalist inspired by the Renaissance masters, he painted modern interpretations of mythological and classical themes. His beautiful life-like paintings were remarkable because of the nuanced expressions and exquisitely drawn hands and feet of his subjects. A wine merchant’s son, he wasn’t encouraged by his father, but he had his mother and paternal uncle’s support and studied at art schools in Bordeaux, Paris and Rome. Early in his career, he received commissions to decorate the villas of rich and influential Parisians which helped establish his reputation. Bouguereau received both commercial success and critical acclaim. His paintings were bought by Emperors in Europe as well as millionaires of America. A tireless and hard-working painter, he produced close to 822 paintings. He was also a passionate teacher who was instrumental in getting female scholars admitted to the French academia. However, he was criticised throughout his life by avant-garde artists and critics who thought of paintings as vacuous and populist. The world of art was moving towards Impressionism and after his death his name and art went into oblivion for a while. Today, a Bouguereau painting is sold at millions of dollars breaking auction records. Retrospective of his works are being held and two of his paintings hang permanently at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.