The Book Hours, 1867 Adolphe-William Bouguereau (1825-1905)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Adolphe-William Bouguereau also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting The Book Hours is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

"The Book Hours" by Adolphe-William Bouguereau - painted in 1867, this piece feels like a visual whisper, gently pulling you into its intimate moment of quiet contemplation. We have a young woman holding a small, humble book. The way her fingers curl around its edge, gently parting the pages, suggests this isn’t a moment of frantic reading but a pause, perhaps lost in thought, maybe mid-reflection.

Her expression is soft but filled with something just shy of melancholy. She isn’t simply a model; there’s a narrative behind those eyes, though Bouguereau leaves it enigmatic. This mystery becomes part of the painting's quiet charm. Her clothing, though traditional and peasant-like, is adorned with brilliant pops of color - reds and blues, as though her inner vibrancy contrasts with her composed exterior. Bouguereau does something magical here with these splashes of color: they brighten the figure without overpowering the scene.

Now, the technique, ah, this is where Bouguereau’s magic shines. His signature blend of realism and idealism is in full force. The skin is rendered with an almost porcelain-like smoothness, while the texture of the cloth feels tangible, like you could reach out and feel its soft weave beneath your fingers. The brushwork is so subtle it practically disappears, leaving only the illusion of perfection. The background? Barely there, a dark gradient that perfectly highlights the figure - no distractions, just her, the book, and the quiet moment between them.

It’s an oval composition, which adds a sense of intimacy and focus. This isn’t a grandiose scene meant to capture the chaos of life but a quiet window into one young woman’s private world. Simple? Yes. But in its simplicity, Bouguereau finds something profoundly human.