Skip Navigation

The Elder Sister, reduction (La soeur aînée, réduction)

William Bouguereau

European Art

This painting portrays a young woman dressed in garments that seem at once rustic and classical, cradling a small child. The title identifies the figures as siblings, but their tender, entwined poses intentionally recall Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child. Such sentimentalized paintings appealed to a bourgeois clientele that appreciated delicately rendered Christian and humble domestic themes.

Many people who bought art for their homes in the nineteenth century preferred paintings such as William Bouguereau’s to those that displayed more radical approaches to brushwork and form. This was partly because their tastes were shaped by the burgeoning upper-middle-class merchant economy, which valued works that appeared fastidiously made over those that looked slapdash. Critics often compared painting techniques to types of labor, likening the polished surfaces and carefully modeled forms of academic painters such as Bouguereau to the delicate products of pastry chefs, and the thick, visible brushwork of avant-garde artists to the rough handiwork of bricklayers
MEDIUM Oil on panel
  • Place Made: Europe
  • DATES ca. 1864
    DIMENSIONS 21 7/8 x 17 15/16 in. (55.6 x 45.6 cm) Frame: 29 3/4 x 25 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (75.6 x 64.8 x 11.4 cm)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE Signed lower right on chest: "W Bouguereau"
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 21.99
    CREDIT LINE Bequest of William H. Herriman
    PROVENANCE Prior to 1918, provenance not yet documented; before 1918, acquired or exhibited by Durand-Ruel, Paris, France; by July 26, 1918, acquired by William Henry Herriman of Brooklyn, NY and Rome, Italy; May 18, 1921, bequeathed by William Henry Herriman to the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION William Bouguereau (French, 1825–1905). The Elder Sister, reduction (La soeur aînée, réduction), ca. 1864. Oil on panel, 21 7/8 x 17 15/16 in. (55.6 x 45.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of William H. Herriman, 21.99 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 21.99_PS9.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 21.99_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
    This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.