Group of Artists in Jean-Baptiste Isabey's Studio

Louis Léopold Boilly French

Not on view

This sheet is a study for one of Boilly’s most famous paintings depicting a gathering of artists in the studio of Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1767–1855). The finished canvas, exhibited at the Salon of 1798, is a group portrait of thirty-one prominent artistic figures, each one a closely observed portrait that was studied in an individual oil sketch. This quickly worked study, constructed of velvety shadows and sparkling highlights, focuses on the group of figures around a table that appears on the right side of the composition. Through the variety of their poses and activities, Boilly stressed the creative conviviality of the artist’s studio.

Group of Artists in Jean-Baptiste Isabey's Studio, Louis Léopold Boilly (French, La Bassée 1761–1845 Paris), Conté crayon, stumping, heightened with white chalk

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