Brief Biography-William Adolphe Bouguereau was from La Rochelle, France. He began drawing at a very young age and received his first official tuition as a college student from a past pupil of Jean-Auguste Ingres.
While in Bordeaux, dealing with the family olive oil business, he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Bordeaux. He went on to Paris, where he studied in the workshop of Francois-Edouard Picot and subsequently entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1850, he was awarded first prize in the Prix de Rome competition, which propelled him to Rome for four years of study.
During his time in Paris, he tutored at the Académie Julian and eventually married one of his students Elizabeth Gardner from New Hampshire. He led a highly successful life as an artist, and in 1896 he became a Grand Officer in the Legion of Honour.