Spotlight on Boilly


Delightful display at the Wallace Collection focusing on their three pictures by Louis-Léopold Boilly.

Boilly witnessed the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon and the restoration of the French monarchy and worked throughout that time adapting to suit his audiences. He is now known for his tongue in cheek scenes of bourgeoisie life and the three pictures here are of this genre. These pictures have been recently restored and studied for the catalogue raisonne for the artist.

The works included Boy with a Mouse in which a boy leans through a window and waves a dead mouse at a younger child in its mother’s arms. I love the details of the house to show the class of the family with a guitar and fine foot stool but dull walls.

The other two are a pair called The Visit Returned and The Sorrows. In the first a woman visits her lover who is playing the piano and in the second the implication is that he has either died or rejected her and her portrait which was on his piano before is returned to her. Again I loved the detail in the rooms and the way the gauze on her pink dress was painted.

These works weren’t really my style but I loved the glimpse they gave on life at the time and I look forward to the larger exhibition on Boilly at the National Gallery which opens soon.

Closes on 19 May 2019


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