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Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

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Historic Houses

Located on Freemason St. —

Open Saturday and Sunday

Noon–5 p.m.

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

By Appointment

Tuesday-Thursday

10:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Moses Myers House

The oldest Jewish home in America open to the public as a museum offers a glimpse of the life of an early 19th century merchant family.
More about the house

About the Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

Willoughby-Baylor House

Completed in 1794, this former home now presents a mix of art and artifacts. See what's on view

Located in Norfolk

One Memorial Place,
Norfolk, VA
Get Directions

While You're Here

Visit our Museum Shop
and the Wisteria Cafe.

Perry Glass Studio

A state-of-art facility on the Museum’s campus. See a free glassmaking demo Tuesdays–Sunday at noon. Like what you see? Take a class with us! More about the Studio

Moses Myers House

The home of the first permanent Jewish residents of Norfolk, this historic house offers a glimpse of the life of a wealthy early 19th-century merchant family.
More about the house

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

Weddings & Event Rentals

The perfect place for your big day or special event. Get the details

Take a tour

We offer a number of tours on different topics. More about tours

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Visit one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

About the Chrysler

Our story spans well over 100 years. See where we began, how we grew, and where we're going. Explore our history

News and Announcements

See what's happening at the Museum, read Chrysler Magazine, and find our Media Center. Read now

Location

745 Duke Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-333-6299

Always Free Parking

Get Directions

Third Thursdays

Live art performances monthly.
See the archive

Studio Team

Meet the brilliant minds behind the Studio.
See the team

Studio Assistantship Program

Further your career and join us in Norfolk.
Find out more

The Masterpiece Society

Learn about this innovative group of museum supporters.
Meet the Masterpiece Society

Planned Giving

Help ensure the long-term success of the Museum.
Learn about planned giving

Collections Menu
Orestes Pursued by the Furies

Orestes Pursued by the Furies

Artist: Adolphe-William Bouguereau (French, 1825-1905)
Date: 1862
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
91 x 109 5/8 in. (231.1 x 278.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 101 7/8 x 121 1/4 x 4 in. (258.8 x 308 x 10.2 cm)
Classification: European art
Credit Line: Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number: 71.623
Terms
  • Mythology
  • Furies
  • Orestes
  • White
  • Grey
  • Black
  • Red
  • Dark Brown
  • Flesh
On view
DescriptionThis is a large oil on canvas painting. There are five figures clustered in the center, leaving the dark landscape background largely unnoticed. A thorny vine creeps across their path in the right foreground. The one male, nude, holding his hands over his ears with an expression of pain on his face, is swarthy and surrounded by four females in various tints of pale. Three of the females, hair swarming with snakes, are the furies: Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera point at his crime, as he covers his ears and tries to escape. The female to his left, his mother, has a knife buried deep in her chest. Her head is tilted back and she is supported by one of the furies. The mother's hair hangs down long past her waist, blood drips on her creamy white skin and garments. Her lower body is draped in a swirling red cloth. The three furies have an eerie cast to their skin, and their faces are distorted in anger. The one on the right side of the canvas holds a torch in her left hand, but the flames are subdued in comparison to the red garment draped about the murdered woman. Orestes, the one male in the painting, murdered her for killing his father.

Exhibition HistorySalon, Paris, 1863. (Exhib. cat. no. 227).
"William Bouguereau," Paris, 1885. (Exhib. cat. page 24).
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy, 1892. (Exhib. cat. no. 401).
"William Bouguereau," Paris, 1900. (Exhib. cat. page 147, by M. Vachon).
"The Pennsylvania Academy," Boston, 1911. (Exhib. cat. page 164, ill., by H.W. Henderson).
"French Painting 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, March 25 - May 22, 1960. (Exhib. cat. no. 43).
"French Salon Paintings from Southern Collections," High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Chrysler Museum, Norfolk; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; and John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Jan. 21 - Oct. 23, 1983. (Exhib. cat. no. 6).
"William Bouguereau 1825 - 1905," Petit Palais, Paris, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Feb. 9, 1984 - Jan. 13, 1985. (Exhib. cat. no. 29).
"French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum", North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, May 31 - September 14, 1986; Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, November 6, 1986 - January 18, 1987. (Exhib. cat. no. 22).
"Vik Muniz: Photography and the Rebirth of Wonder," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, July 13 - October 14, 2018.
"Bouguereau and America," Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, February 15 – May 12, 2019.
Label textAdolphe William Bouguereau
French, 1825–1905
Orestes Pursued by the Furies, 1862
Oil on canvas

In this scene from an ancient Greek tragedy, Orestes avenges his father by murdering his own mother. Even before her body hits the ground, the mythological spirits of vengeance known as the Furies have overwhelmed the guilty son. By pitting Orestes’ nude body against the hideous trio swarming around him, William Bouguereau set the bar for late 19th-century academic painters. His use of classical figures to animate strikingly dramatic scenes won him both commercial success and critical recognition as the grand master of the French art establishment.

Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.623

Published References Priscilla C. Colt and Charles H. Elam. _French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio. 1960.No.43. Mario Amaya. "Contrasts and Comparisons in French Nineteenth Century Painting." _Apollo_. 107: 194. 04/1978:pp. 16-25, ill. John House. "Pompier Politics: Bouguereau's Art." _Art in America_. 10/1984:pp. 142-143 and cover illustration. Louise d'Argencourt, Mark Steven Walker, et al. _William Bouguereau 1825-1905_. Montréal: Le Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montreal. 1984. pp. 161-163. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Nineteenth-Century French Art - Part I." _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum. 1985:p. 5, no. 12, illustrated. Jefferson C. Harrison. _French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1986, Cat. No. 22, pp. 44-46; Color Plate No. 22, p. 116. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 87, pp. 110-111; Color ill. p. 111. Juliet Wilson-Bareau, et al. _Manet: The Execution of Maximilian. Paintings Politics and Censorship_. London: National Gallery Publications Limited. 1992:pp. 90-91, fig. 98. Pascal Quignard. _La Haine de la Musique_. Paris: Gallimard, 1996, color detail on cover. Fronia E. Wissman, _Bouguereau_ (San Francisco: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1996), 103, plate 50. Daniel Stissi, Jean-Bernard Allardi, Marcel Arnaud, Josiane Bidault, Brigitte Rebmeister, and Fabienne Serin-Moyal. _Francais 2_. Paris: Delagrave. 2000: 149-150, illustrations. Matt Matravers. _Justice and Punishment: The Rationale of Coercion_. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2000: Jacket cover illustration. Content does not apply. Luc Mallet, "Aimer à la folie," _Cerveau & Psycho_ no. 2 (June-August 2003): 53. Jo Claes, _Griekse Mythen en Sagen_ (Kampen: Uitgeverij Ten Have, 2005), 258 & 259. ISBN: 9789080829091 Edited by James F. Peck, _In the Studios of Paris: William Bouguereau & His American Students_, exh. cat., The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK., 2006, 19 & 20. ISBN: 978-0-300-11413-3 Jeffrey Miller, "Canada's Law and Literature Movement Gains Momentum," _The Lawyers Weekly_ Vol. 25, No. 44. (March 31, 2006), 5. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 42, fig. 38. Tomas Lappalainen, "En historia av hämnd ock blod," Axess Magazine Volume 4 (May, 2008), 21 Translated by Johann Gustav Droysen, _Aischylos, Tragödien_ (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 2008) Cover. Robin Waterfield, trans., _Euripides: Orestes and Other Plays_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), cover. Robert Badinter, _Crime & châtiment: Sous la Direction de Jean Clair_, exh.cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, 2010, 16, ill.3. Claude Quétel, _Images de la folie_, (Paris: Éditions Gallimard, 2010), 156. _The Complete Greek Tragedies_, Volume 1, (London: The Folio Society Ltd, 2011), 145. Joachim Nagel, _Vampire: Mythische Wesen der Nacht_, (Stuttgart: Belser Publishing, 2011), 8,12, back cover ill. Chris Murray, _Tragic Coleridge_ (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2013) cover ill. Laurel Fulkerson, _No Regrets: Remorse in Classical Antiquity_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013) cover ill. Sir Basil Markesinis, _On the Endurance of Ancient Greek Thought Through the Ages_ (Vienna: Jan Sramek Verlag, 2014) 42-43. Patrick Wald Lasowski, _La Terreur_ (Paris: Le Cherche Midi, 2014) dust jacket ill. Richard Sorabji, _Moral Conscience Through the Ages: Fifth Century BCE to the Present_ (Chicago and Oxford: University of Chicago Press and Oxford University Press, 2014) dust jacket ill. Benjamin Steiner, "Nebenfolgen in der Geschichte: Eine historische Soziologie reflexiver Modernisierung," Historische Zeitschrift 65 (2014) cover ill. Eric M. Zafran, "Norfolk's Salon Masterworks Shine Again," _Fine Art Connoisseur_, November-December 2014, 47. Guy Cogeval, et. al., _El canto del cisne: Pinturas académicas del Salón de París, colecciones Musée d'Orsay_ (Madrid: Fundación Mapfre, 2015) 44, fig. 13. Frederich Maier, _Der Westen im Aufbruch - antike Brücken nach Europa_ (Bad Driburg, Germany: Ovid-Verlag, 2015) 43. Emmanuelle Hénin, _Écrire la mythologie: D'Homère à Marguerite Yourcenar_ (Paris: Éditions Citadelles and Mazenod, 2016) 110-111. Arthur Shuster, _Punishment and the History of Political Philosophy: From Classical Republicanism to the Crisis of Modern Criminal Justice_ (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016) dust jacket illustration. Ioannis Karakis, "Neuroscience and Greek mythology," _Journal of the History of the Neurosciences_ (England: Routledge, Taylor, & Francis Group, 2018). The School of Life, _A Job to Love_, (London: The School of Life, 2017), page 156. Lesel Dawsn and Fiona McHardy, _revenge and Gender in Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Literature, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018), cover and fig.1.1, pg. 2. Milwaukee Art Museum and Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, _Bouguereau & America_, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), plate 9, pages 88-91. John C. Tibbetts, _The Furies of Marjorie Bowen_ (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2019) cover ill.
Provenance The artist, 1862-1870. Sold by the artist to George Lucas on behalf of Samuel Putnam Avery, NY, Nov. 4, 1870. Sold by Avery to Joseph Harrison Jr., from Philadelphia, PA, unknown year. Upon Harrison's death in 1874, transferred to his wife, Sarah Poulterer Harrison. Donated by Sarah Harrison to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1878. Purchased by Giovanni Castano, Boston, MA, unknown year. Sold to Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., May 28, 1953. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., to the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, 1971.
Catalogue EntryAdolphe William Bouguereau
French, 1825-1905
Orestes Pursued by the Furies, 1862
Oil on canvas, 91" x 109-5/8" (231 x 278.5 cm)
Signed and dated lower right:
_W-BOVGVEREAV - 1862_
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 71.623

References: _William Bouguereau 1825-1905_, exhib. cat., Petit Palais, Paris; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; and Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 1984-85, no. 29; Harrison, _CM_, 1986, no. 22.

Bouguereau was among the most powerful members of France's late-nineteenth-century art establishment, a conservative _grand maître_ whose paintings helped set the style of official French art in the decades between 1850 and 1900. His career in Paris was marked by a succession of professional triumphs and increasingly prestigious awards. In 1888 he was made a professor at the government-run Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and from 1876 he served as a leading member of the all-powerful Institut de France. During the late 1870s and the 1880s he also served as an instructor at the Académie Julian, one of the most important private art schools in Paris. After 1860 he began a series of immensely popular genre pictures - sentimental images of peasant children and devoted mothers that he rendered in a flawlessly realistic, academic style. By 1870 his paintings fetched consistently high prices from wealthy collectors in France, England and America.
A pure product of the Ecole and its rigorous academic regimen, Bouguereau throughout his life stressed the superiority of the classical ideal. As a teacher he preached the importance of precise draftsmanship and a tight, enameled painting technique. Those avant-garde artists who ignored such traditional concerns - chief among them the Impressionists - he dismissed with scorn.
_Orestes Pursued by the Furies_ of 1862 is one of the grandest of Bouguereau's mythological pictures. Its classical Greek subject is taken from the _Oreseia_ by Aeschylus, in which Orestes, the son of King Agamemnon, kills his mother Clytemnestra to avenge the death of his father, whom she murdered. Orestes is then set upon by the Furies, the three spirits of retributive justice, who relentlessly pursue him as he seeks to purge his guilt at Delphi and in Athens. In Bouguereau's painting, the Furies - Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera - their hair swarming with snakes, confront Orestes with his crime, pointing angrily at the corpse of his mother. The horrified Orestes lurches away, vainly trying to escape the Furies and their hideous cries of accusation. The grisly scene is given a dramatic nocturnal setting - especially appropriate as the Furies were the daughters of Nyx, the goddess of night. The painting's classical composition and imagery were inspired in part by Pierre Paul Prud'hon's famous canvas of 1808, _Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime_ (Louvre, Paris), and by John Flaxman's _Orestes and the Furies_, engraved in 1793.
When it was shown at the 1863 Salon, Bouguereau's painting was judged harshly by the critics, who balked at its heavy, histrionic tone. Bouguereau had seldom before attempted so pure an expression of Romantic high melodrama, and when _Orestes_ was criticized, he abandoned the genre for good. Thereafter he returned to a quieter, Raphaelesque style and favored far less dramatic pictures of beggar children and classical nudes. "I soon found that the horrible, the frenzied, the heroic does not pay," he lamented, "and as the public of today prefers Venuses and Cupids and I paint to please the public, it is to Venus and Cupid that I chiefly devote myself."

Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 87, pp. 110-111; Color ill. p. 111.