Charles-Guillaume-Alexandre Bourgeois
1759 - 1832
A Portrait of a young Lady, in Profile, wearing a White Dress with a Black Shawl
Medium:
Gouache on Card
Category:
Dimensions:
6.3(h) x 6.3(w) cms
Signed:
Signed and dated on shawl: 'Bourgeois/ an 12'
Essay:
Charles Bourgeois began his career as a pupil of the famous engraver Johann Georg Wille (1715-1808). He has become known for his miniature portraits in Camaïeu (ie painted with different shades of the same colour). Bourgeois exhibited at various salons from 1800 - 1824. In addition, he was a physicist, optician and chemist using his knowledge to develop new paint pigments. Some of his portraits are today in the collection of the Louvre. Bourgeois is buried at the cemetery in Montmarte.
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The inscription gives the year that this miniature portrait was painted as '12'. Working under the French Republic during the time of Napoleon with its Republican calendar the year 12 was equivalent to 1803-4. The sitter's tousled hairstyle and simple clothing are redolent of French revolutionary taste which revolved around Greco-Roman fashion.
Provenance:
Private Collection, USA.
Private Collection, UK.