Jean-Jacques de Boissieu French, 1736-1810
Ball Player in front of a Wall
Pen and brown ink, brown wash
6.8 x 5.4 in
17.5 x 13.8 cm
17.5 x 13.8 cm
This spirited study captures a standing male figure in profile, dressed in the simple attire of an 18th century French peasant or artisan. The subjectwears a tricorn hat and a...
This spirited study captures a standing male figure in profile, dressed in the simple attire of an 18th century French peasant or artisan. The subjectwears a tricorn hat and a long coat over kneebreeches, with wooden sabots on his feet. Two balls rest on the ground at his feet, identifying him as a player of boules, the traditional French ball game. The figure is rendered with remarkable economy of means, yet de Boissieu has captured the essence of his subject with precision and verve.
The artist employed his characteristic technique of pen and brown ink combined with brown and gray washes to create this vivid portrait from daily life. The loose, confident pen work defines the contours and details of the costume, while the fluid washes model the form and establish the figure’s volume against the summarily indicated wall behind him. A strong cast shadow to the right anchors the figure in space and enhances the sense of immediacy.
The drawing exemplifies de Boissieu’s practice of making studies from nature, observing and drawing the people he encountered in the streets and countryside around Lyon. Responding to the taste of his time, the artist observed and depicted common folk in their daily activities with a preference for rural subjects. His precise draftsmanship captured the attitude, expression, and characteristic details of costume that reveal the social condition of his models. Marie-Félicie Perez-Pivot, the leading authority on Boissieu, described this work as “une très jolie feuille” and noted that it represents a study taken directly from life, filled with verve and exactitude in both the pose and the attentive physiognomy of the figure.
Jean-Jacques de Boissieu stands as one of the most accomplished draughtsman and printmakers of 18th century France, yet he remained proudly independent of the Parisian art establishment throughout his career. Born in Lyon on November 30, 1736 to a well-established family, Boissieu received his first documented drawing instruction in 1746 and entered the free drawing school in 1757. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he pursued art as an amateur in the 18th century sense a gentleman artist of independent means who was free to follow his own artistic vision. In 1758, he published his first collection of etchings, the “Livre de griffonnements,” demonstrating his early mastery of printmaking.
The formative period of de Boissieu’s artistic development included an extended stay in Paris from 1762 to 1764, where he established important connections with collectors and artists. Most significantly, from July 1765 to April 1766, he undertook a voyage to Italy in the company of the Duke Louis-Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld, which profoundly influenced his artistic vision. Following his return to Lyon, he married Anne-Roch Valousin 1773 and established himself firmly within Lyon’s bourgeois society. His reputation grew steadily, culminating in his reception at the Académie de Lyon in 1780 and election as honorary member of the Académie de Bologne in 1805.
De Boissieu’s technique in drawing employed pen and brown ink with various tones of wash to create studies that combine precision with atmospheric effects. The simple and sober realism of his figures reflects his deep admiration for Dutch masters such as Adriaen van de Velde and Cornelis Bega. Although he never traveled to the Netherlands, he studied Northern European art extensively in Lyon and Paris, where he maintained connections with the circle of landscape painters around François Boucher. The artist cultivated important relationships with fellow artists and collectors including Jean-Georges Wille, Claude-Henri Watelet, and the amateur Saint-Morys, all of whom owned his drawings. Boissieu himself assembled an impressive personal collection of paintings and Dutch and Flemish prints and drawings.
Throughout his career, de Boissieu produced drawings and prints that documented the world around him with unfailing honesty and technical brilliance. He created numerous figure studies of peasants and common people observed in the Lyon region, capturing them with characteristic verve and precision. De Boissieu remained active until the end of his life, producing his final drawings in 1809. He died in Lyon on March 1, 1810 leaving behind a substantial body of work that includes approximately 140 etchings and hundreds of drawings. The artist’s legacy was preserved through the collection at the Château de l’Allier, which remained in the de Boissieu family for generations.
The artist employed his characteristic technique of pen and brown ink combined with brown and gray washes to create this vivid portrait from daily life. The loose, confident pen work defines the contours and details of the costume, while the fluid washes model the form and establish the figure’s volume against the summarily indicated wall behind him. A strong cast shadow to the right anchors the figure in space and enhances the sense of immediacy.
The drawing exemplifies de Boissieu’s practice of making studies from nature, observing and drawing the people he encountered in the streets and countryside around Lyon. Responding to the taste of his time, the artist observed and depicted common folk in their daily activities with a preference for rural subjects. His precise draftsmanship captured the attitude, expression, and characteristic details of costume that reveal the social condition of his models. Marie-Félicie Perez-Pivot, the leading authority on Boissieu, described this work as “une très jolie feuille” and noted that it represents a study taken directly from life, filled with verve and exactitude in both the pose and the attentive physiognomy of the figure.
Jean-Jacques de Boissieu stands as one of the most accomplished draughtsman and printmakers of 18th century France, yet he remained proudly independent of the Parisian art establishment throughout his career. Born in Lyon on November 30, 1736 to a well-established family, Boissieu received his first documented drawing instruction in 1746 and entered the free drawing school in 1757. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he pursued art as an amateur in the 18th century sense a gentleman artist of independent means who was free to follow his own artistic vision. In 1758, he published his first collection of etchings, the “Livre de griffonnements,” demonstrating his early mastery of printmaking.
The formative period of de Boissieu’s artistic development included an extended stay in Paris from 1762 to 1764, where he established important connections with collectors and artists. Most significantly, from July 1765 to April 1766, he undertook a voyage to Italy in the company of the Duke Louis-Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld, which profoundly influenced his artistic vision. Following his return to Lyon, he married Anne-Roch Valousin 1773 and established himself firmly within Lyon’s bourgeois society. His reputation grew steadily, culminating in his reception at the Académie de Lyon in 1780 and election as honorary member of the Académie de Bologne in 1805.
De Boissieu’s technique in drawing employed pen and brown ink with various tones of wash to create studies that combine precision with atmospheric effects. The simple and sober realism of his figures reflects his deep admiration for Dutch masters such as Adriaen van de Velde and Cornelis Bega. Although he never traveled to the Netherlands, he studied Northern European art extensively in Lyon and Paris, where he maintained connections with the circle of landscape painters around François Boucher. The artist cultivated important relationships with fellow artists and collectors including Jean-Georges Wille, Claude-Henri Watelet, and the amateur Saint-Morys, all of whom owned his drawings. Boissieu himself assembled an impressive personal collection of paintings and Dutch and Flemish prints and drawings.
Throughout his career, de Boissieu produced drawings and prints that documented the world around him with unfailing honesty and technical brilliance. He created numerous figure studies of peasants and common people observed in the Lyon region, capturing them with characteristic verve and precision. De Boissieu remained active until the end of his life, producing his final drawings in 1809. He died in Lyon on March 1, 1810 leaving behind a substantial body of work that includes approximately 140 etchings and hundreds of drawings. The artist’s legacy was preserved through the collection at the Château de l’Allier, which remained in the de Boissieu family for generations.
Provenance
Malaussena collection, his stamp lower right (L.1887)Sale of The Collection of M. le Baron de Malausséna, Hôtel des Commissaires-Priseurs, Paris, 18–20 April 1866, lot 121 (noted as “Homme debout vu de profil, à la plume, lavé de bistre”)
Collection of the Château de l’Allier, the property of the descendants of Jean-Jacques de Boissieu)
Publications
Marie-Félicie Perez-Pivot, Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736–1810), Artiste et Amateur Lyonnais du XVIIIe siècle, doctoral thesis, Université Lyon II, 1982, vol. 2, tome 2, no. 514, unpublished (chronology references drawings dated 1746–1809).
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