Die Bohémienne, 1890, von William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Kunstdruck auf Leinwand - 191-BWA

It is lovely, although it smells like paint, but I get that. If it was up to me, "shipped rolled" posters would all be shipped image side out, as it makes it more convenient for stretching and framing, but that's not what we do, and I get that as well... Anecdotally, but sincerely, I would cheerfully pay two to three times as much for a reproduction of this greatest of Bougeureau's works if I could obtain it in the 42 x 59 inch size of the original canvas, but since the only reproduction I had to hand previously was 2 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches, I am greatly assuged and abated in my hunger to bask in the unrivalled beauty of "Le Boheme" (I'm not a Francophone, but I play one on TV!)... As I related when I ordered this print, for most of my adult life, this exceedingly beautiful painting was part of the permanent collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and I used to visit it at least every other month, but at some point a fly by night "Interim Director" at the MIA clandestinely "deaccessioned" the work (and probably illegally, as it was a bequest of the Christina N. and Susan J. Turnblad Fund) in order to, ostensibly, finance the purchase of a (circa teens-twenties) painting of a graying flapper brandishing a badminton racket, and the Bougereau vanished into some oligarch or Sheik's private collection, which is literally a crime against humanity... I have some connectivity in the art world (my ex-wife and her current husband and my daughter were all working for the MIA about the time of this (essentially!) "art heist," and I've seriously nosed around more than a bit, and if ANYONE knows the current whereabouts of this painting, they aren't saying! In addition to inquiry through and around the MIA, I querried The Gamel-Lack Institute, and they told me in no uncertain terms, "The whereabouts of this painting is unknown"... If you know more, or otherwise, please let me know, I'm all ears. I believe it will surface again some day, but in all likelihood I will have, as the yogis say, "kicked the frame" long before then (although I'd love to be wrong about this!)... Holiday Best and a Most Resplendant New Year to all at TopArtPrint (Bulgaria, right?)... -- Namaste Art Mavens! Genn C.B. Jones (Minneapolis)