William-Adolphe Bouguereau
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The Birth of Venus by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1879
One critic at the time is said to have compared her to a balloon perched on a bonbon box — all polish, no real feeling. The French state bought the painting almost immediately anyway, while a very different crowd of painters, working just blocks away, could barely get their work into the same building.
Erisava: Not a hair out of place mid-ocean — feels too neat to be real.
The Nymphaeum by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1878
Apparently he was one of the best-paid painters in Paris in his day, then fell out of favor completely once Impressionism took hold — he didn't come back into fashion until decades later.
Erisava: Calling this 'nymphs' feels like an excuse to paint that many naked women.