Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845), John who laughs, around 1808-1810. Oil on canvas, 21,5 x 17 cm. Private collection © Guillaume Benoît.
A curiously little-known gem of a museum – in a sense, good for us! – the Cognacq-Jay museum is inaugurating a stimulating exhibition dedicated to one of the most unknown French artists of the 18th century: Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845). Virtuoso, prolific and unclassifiable, this autodidact established himself posthumously as one of the best chroniclers of popular Paris, its streets, its inhabitants, its effervescence.
Originally from the North of France, Boilly arrived in Paris at the age of 24 in 1785, with only his brushes and immense talent. From one revolution to another (1789 and 1848), he became, for six decades, the facetious, precise and prolific chronicler of the capital, which fascinated him.
Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845), Two young friends kissing, around 1789-1793. oil on canvas, 42,5 x 35 cm. Wiltshire, The Ramsbury Foundation © The Ramsbury Manor Foundation
Disinterested in the big story, he focuses on the scenes of ordinary life: the arrival of a post coach near the current Place des Victoires, the crowd during a free distribution of wine at the occasion of the King's Day on the Champs-Élysées, the stampede in front of the entrance to the Ambigu-Comique theater [now defunct] on the Grands Boulevard or even children attending a Guignol show.
Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845), The traveling Polichinelle show, 1832. Oil on canvas, 33 x 41 cm. Wiltshire, The Ramsbury Manor Foundation © The Ramsbury Manor Foundation.
Some paintings speak directly to us about the Marais or its immediate surroundings, such as this oil from the women's prison on rue Meslay (3rd) or the theater at Porte Saint-Martin (10th). Vagabonds, policemen, porters, street vendors, bourgeois, prostitutes: all strata of society are represented in these abundant images where the artist represents himself, in the manner of Alfred Hitchcock's appearances in his films - we think of course, also, to the British comic-game Where did Charlie go?
Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845), The incredible walk, circa 1797. Oil on panel, 39,3 x 51 cm. Private collection © Guillaume Benoît.
Little-known, original and exciting, Boilly's work is presented for the first time in such a complete way. The exhibition is, in a way, an extension of the famous Tableau de Paris by Louis-Sébastien Mercier. Published in 1788, this work, well known to lovers of the capital, also described in detail the customs and daily lives of Parisians. A brilliant jack-of-all-trades and formidable caricaturist, Boilly also greatly influenced Honoré Daumier, painter, sculptor and caricaturist born fifty years after him (in 1808).
Curator Annick Lemoine, whose last exhibition is before joining the Petit Palais, is ending her four years at Cognacq-Jay in style. And leaves us in wonderful company with this sacred number that we didn't know but won't soon forget: Louis-Léopold Boilly.
Boilly, Parisian chronicles
Cognac-Jay Museum
until June 26, 2022
8 Rue Elzevir, 75003 Paris
Open daily from 10h to 18h
Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845), Grimaces, circa 1823. Lithograph, black print, colored print, 38 x 27,5 cm. Private collection © Guillaume Benoît.
Text: Axel G.
17.02.22
