Portrait of a Boy

Boilly’s reputation as a painter stems from scenes of everyday life in Paris in the decades around 1800 (for example, The Met, 2012.156), his mastery of trompe-l’oeil, and, above all, portraits. The vast majority of these—some 4,500 by his own count—are bust-length likenesses (The Met, 1976.100.2, 1976.100.3, and 2003.42.5 are characteristic). He occasionally produced larger and more elaborate portraits incorporating elements of the other genres in which he specialized, of which this is an example.

This is a portrait of a boy whose outfit, including matching green-and-white turban, vest, and boots with gold accents, evokes the costumes of Mamluks who appeared in Paris following Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign of 1798 (see Horace Vernet, Portrait of a Mamluk, The Met, 2014.435.3). Kneeling on a Savonnerie-style carpet beside a cushioned Empire stool set before sumptuous purple velvet drapes, he clutches in his left hand all manner of toys—as if to keep them from an intruder whose presence is implied by his direct, impish gaze—while offering a ball with his right. He has abandoned a partially eaten cake and its wrapper, which lie on the stool, in order to gather up his possessions, including a female doll and a male marionette; the latter appears to cast a sidelong glance at an apple and cookie lying on the floor beneath the stool. The overall impression is one of playful indulgence.

The sitter’s identification has been lost, but it has plausibly been suggested (see Christie’s 2018, under Provenance) that he was Oscar Bernadotte (1799–1859), son of the Napoleonic general and Marshal of the French Empire Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (1763–1844), and his wife, Eugénie Bernardine Désirée Clary (1777–1860). The Bernadottes, father and then son, would eventually become kings of Sweden.

For a description of the artist’s procedure in painting this scene, see under Technical Notes.

Asher Miller 2019

Despite the lack of concrete information surrounding the historical origins of the painting, technical examination has proven illuminating. The canvas was initially prepared with a white ground (visible through cracks in the paint), whose brightness contributes to the strong sense of luminosity of the image. Infrared reflectography (see fig. 1 above) reveals a boldly and fluidly applied brush drawing in which the artist set out the contours and details of the composition that he had yet to paint: the boy, his costume (including the pattern on the vest), toys, and surroundings. The boy’s head and features are indicated, with some adjustments to the eyes and eyebrows, and the now very round face that gives the boy and the image such character was initially drawn narrower. A larger change is seen in the boy’s right arm (holding the ball), which was initially positioned lower down, with the curtain above also slightly lower. The infrared reflectogram also shows the drawing of what appears to be a toy dog (or lion?) to the right of the leg of the upholstered stool; that it is a toy rather than a live dog is supported by the rough indication of a rectangular base. In deciding not to execute this detail in paint, Boilly chose instead to add the apple and cookie, which, unlike other details, were not underdrawn. In the upper half of the painting, there is also finer drawing featuring ruled lines and architectural details: the top of a column—perhaps two—and steep perspective lines relating to the capitals. Presumably, the canvas began as a scene with an architectural setting, and this composition was subsequently abandoned and replaced.

The paint was applied in one or two layers, allowing the white ground to show through the thinner and more translucent passages. The painting is a tour de force of stylized illusionism, with carefully blended brushwork accompanied by dazzling and precise highlights (like the light on the flesh of the porcelain doll and puppet). The stitching on the multicolored ball was created by dragging a fine brush through the paint while it was still wet. All in all, the scene is vividly and alluringly realized in paint. (Adapted from Charlotte Hale, Examination Report, November 16, 2018, Department of European Paintings files.)

[Edward Speelman, London, ca. 1955; purchased on the Paris art market; sold to private collection]; private collection (until 1968; sale, Sotheby’s, London, July 10, 1968, no. 33, as “Portrait of a Little Girl,” property of a gentleman, for £6,200, to Agnew); [Agnew, London, from 1968]; Eugene V. Thaw, New York (ca. 1984–d. 2018); Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust (2018; their sale, Christie’s, New York, October 30, 2018, no. 235, as “Portrait of a child in exotic costume playing with toys, full-length, possibly Oscar Bernadotte [1799–1859], future King of Sweden,” bought in; gift to The Met)

Jacques Foucart in Etienne Bréton and Pascal Zuber. Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845): Le peintre de la société parisienne de Louis XVI à Louis-Philippe. Paris, 2019, vol. 1, p. 10.

Etienne Bréton and Pascal Zuber. Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845): Le peintre de la société parisienne de Louis XVI à Louis-Philippe. Paris, 2019, vol. 2, pp. 656–57, 909, 912, no. 702 P, ill. (color), as "Young Harlequin Boy"; proposes an identification of the boy as Oscar Bernadotte by relating it to the drawing "Portrait of the Son of Bernadotte," which is described in Jules Boilly's 1869 auction catalogue as "Portrait of the son of Bernadotte, later king of Sweden under the name of Oscar; very young and wearing a turban".

Lars Ljungström. E-mail to Marina Kliger. January 21, 2021, states that the identification of the sitter as Bernadotte must be considered speculative.