Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié

This charming portrait of a smiling, rosy-cheeked boy is said to have been commissioned from Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié by Baronne de Berthier-Bizy, a relative of the sitter who has historically been identified as Louis Berthier-Bizy. Here, the smartly attired youth gazes directly at the viewer as he holds a drawing portfolio under his left arm and a porte-crayon, an instrument used for sketching, in his right hand. 

Son of the engraver François Bernard, Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié led a prominent career in Paris and was one of the most sensitive observers of his age. After training with Carle Vanloo, he was fully admitted in 1769 into the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, where he became a professor in 1777. His artistic talents were celebrated during his lifetime, and in addition to specializing in history and genre scenes, he was also a sophisticated portraitist, as illustrated in the present painting. 

The young boy in this canvas is presented as L’élève dessinateur, or the student designer. Though having its roots in the works of the Dutch Golden Age, the iconography of L’élève dessinateur proved particularly popular among French 18^th century artists.¹ The works grouped under this category often portrayed a young boy, sometimes wearing a hat, shown half-length against a neutral background and holding the design tools. Some of earliest known examples of this type are a now-lost portrait of 1726 by Carle Vanloo, recorded in an engraving by Angélique Bregeon,² and Chardin’s Jeune dessinateur taillant son crayon of 1737 today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.³  This particular subject became increasingly fashionable among French artists and collectors from the 1760s onwards. Like Francois-Hubert Drouais, whose Jeune Élève was exhibited at the Salon of 1761 and subsequently acquired by the Marquis de Marigny,⁴  Lépicié was drawn to this subject on many occasions. In addition to the present example, other comparisons include his portrait of the young Carle Vernet of about 1769, today in the Petit Palais in Paris,⁵ as well as a very similar canvas that last appeared on the market at Christie’s New York in 1991.⁶

1. For a full discussion of this subject, see A. Chatelain, "La représentation du jeune dessinateur: un motif de la France des Lumières," in Société Française d'Étude du Dix-Huitième Siècle (2021), no. 53.

2. https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/1921

3. Inv. no. R.F. 1944-4. https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010063942

4. Drouais’ prime is unlocated, but its appearance is preserved in several copies, including one in the collection of the Musée du Louvre (inv. no. RF 1924): https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010055752

5. Inv. no. PPP2252: https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/en/node/226258#infos-principales

6. Anonymous sale (“Property of a Private Collector”), New York, Christie’s, 9 October 1991, lot 9. Oil on canvas, 45.5 by 36.7 cm.