Guillaume Seignac (French, 1870-1924)

A student of William Bouguereau, Tony Robert Fleury and Gabriel Ferrier, Seignac exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon and won an honorable mention in 1900 and a third class medal in 1903. Throughout Seignac's career the influence of his training under Bouguereau, who encouraged his students to promote an 'ideal' through arrangement of composition, and the influence of the Classical and Renaissance models taught at the Academie des Beaux-arts could be felt in his work. This academic training found expression through Seignac’s choice of subject matter as well as his impressively skilled execution. It is often recognized that Seignac's best work, like the present painting, closely resembles Bouguereau's paintings of the 1890's, with their crisp execution, emphasis on the primacy of line, use of rich color and classical imagery. Seignac’s art is a charming reflection of the artist’s admiration for the classical mastery of Bouguereau.