The Kids of Love

Pierre Auguste Cot created a work that exemplifies everything that people appreciate about spring. From romance to the abundance of natures fruits to the warmth, Springtime calls for the viewer to experience the intimacy and beauty of spring. 

This flirtatious duo in classicizing dress, painted with notable technical finesse, reflects Cots allegiance to the academic style of his teachers, including Bouguereau and Cabanel. Exhibited at the Salon of 1873, the picture was Cots greatest success, widely admired and copied in engravings, fans, porcelains, and tapestries. 
 "this reveling pair of children, drunken with first love ... this Arcadian idyll, peppered with French spice."