- 105
Louis-Léopold Boilly La Bassée 1761 - 1845 Paris
Description
- Louis Léopold Boilly
- 'l'amour electrique'
- pen and gray ink and wash with touches of white heightening, over traces of black chalk, within a drawn border
Provenance
drawings from the collection were sold Paris, 19-20 March 1869 and 14-16 December 1874
Catalogue Note
The label on the back of the frame describes the scene depicted: Dans l'intérieur d'une salle habituée par un nécromancier un juene homme et une jeune fille touchent du doigt la flêche que décoche un Amour, et reçoivent l'étincelle électrique d'une machine qu'un vieillard fait mouvoir... Furthermore, the label mentions that 'Le tableau' was sold for 2,150 francs from the collection of 'Mr E.V.' in 1872 (this was the sale of the collection of E. Vincent, Paris, 22 February 1872). Two painted versions of the composition are known, which have been dated around 1791: one is in the Richmond Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia, the other in a French private collection. A further study is also in Richmond, Virginia (see New York, K. de Rothschild/D. Aaron, Master Drawings, 1996, no. 33).
The drawing will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Boilly's drawings, by Etienne Breton and Pascal Zuber.