Portrait Of A Boy (the Artist's Son), Louis Léopold Boilly (1761–1845) (attributed)

Artist: Louis Léopold Boilly, Attributed

TItle: Portrait d'un fils de Boilly (Portrait of a son of Boilly)

Date: Early 19th century

Size: overall measurements with the frame are 34cm x 29cm x 7cm and the painting measured at 22cm x 16cm

BIography:

Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845) was a prolific artist and enthusiastic chronicler of Parisian life for sixty years, developing a reputation for his small-scale portraits and genre scenes chronicling the everyday life of Parisians. He distinguished himself in the art of portraiture by capturing the faces of Parisians on the small formats that would become his trademark.

Description:

There is an almost identical work that is in the collection of the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, measuring 180mm x 140mm, dated to the early 1800s and described as a sketch executed in oil on canvas. There is also mention of "two other sketches from private collections that were sold at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris in 1976 and 1979" in the documentation of the French Ministère de la Culture.

Louis Léopold Boilly was particularly well known for the production of small-scale head-and-shoulders portraits which he was reportedly able to dash off in just half a day. His son Jules claims his father made nearly 4500 of these portraits of which nearly 800 are known. Considering Boilly's prolific output and his penchant for small-scale portraits it seems quite likely that he would have produced multiple versions of particular works.

The present work shows remarkable similarities to the portrait held in the collection of the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille. The fact that the painting is referred to as a portrait of one of the artist's sons makes the existence of multiple versions even more likely. The size of the present work is consistent with Boilly's signature standard scale and is of the period.

The auction record for the artist is 4,562,500 USD for The entrance to the Turkish Garden Café, sold at Christie's New York in 2010. In 2017 the artist's A trompe l'oeil of an ivory and wood crucifix sold for USD 823,500 at Christie's New York. A set of 9 of the artist's signature postcard-sized portraits sold for USD 56,250 at Christie's in 2018.

Works by Boilly are held in many prestigious collections including The National Gallery London, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, and National Museum Washington.

Condition report: The painting has been recently cleaned and there is some microscopic retouching scattered throughout, some of which appear to be quite old. In overall good condition for its antiquity with no cracking or warping to the original artist's panel. The 19th century gilt frame has been recently refurbished and is offered as a gift. We think the frame is most likely the original one to the work.

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