A Soul Brought to Heaven

The artist and his works almost fell into oblivion. At first famous and highly regarded, he became unpopular after 1920 and many in the art world belittled his work. However, his contemporaries, Degas and Monet reportedly named him as the painter who would most likely be remembered by the year 2000.
The values of his paintings soared after a show of his work in 1974 rehabilitated Bouguereau’s reputation. His works were eagerly bought at high prices, and reproductions of his artwork are reportedly selling by the millions worldwide even outselling the reproductions of paintings by the most famous modernists.