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.