- Museum number
- 1870,1008.2364
- Description
-
Boulevard des Capucines, Paris; the street is seen in perspective, running towards the right, from an open space at the corner of a cross street, lamps hang from ropes across the street, lined with autumnal trees, and several groups of people are in the foreground. 1833
Watercolour heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic
- Production date
- 1833
- Dimensions
-
Height: 372 millimetres
-
Width: 597 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Although this watercolour has traditionally been known as 'Boulevard des Italiens', the name it had when it came into the collection in 1870, Stephen Duffy has identified it as a view of the Boulevard des Capucines at the corner with the Rue de la Paix. A Paris almanach of 1832 identifies the two shops on the right as on the rue de la Paix ; the Boulevard des Italiens is in the background, a continuation of the Capucines after it passes the rue Louis Le Grand. Views of the same scene by other artists are titled Boulevard des Capucines. (see catalogue, 'The Discovery of Paris', June- September 2013, Wallace Collection).
The following catalogue entry is from L. Stainton, 'British Landscape Watercolours 1600-1860, 1985:
Trained as an engraver, Boys went to Paris in about 1823 where he seems to have been able to take advantage of the dearth of French experts in this field. By 1826 he was closely associated with Bonington, whose influence is apparent in his early watercolours, but from the outset his interests were different. Whereas Bonington displays romantic sensibility and response to the atmospheric quality of his surroundings, Boys's studies of Paris are primarily topographical. His main concern was to record the architecture and human activity he observed around him. This is particularly marked in the early 1830s. Bonington had died in 1828, and freed from his direct influence Boys's style reached maturity. This watercolour of the Boulevard desltaliens, dated 1833, is a splendid example of his mastery of urban topography, showing his technical virtuosity and his sense of design on a large scale. His depiction of the architecture and of the figures is equally confident: these are not mere staffage (as in so many late eighteenth-century urban views, see 1880,1113.3594 and 1880,1113.4535) but fulfil an essential role in the composition. His success in combining architectural accuracy with human activity accounts for the great popularity of his lithographic series London as it is, 1842, and suggests an interesting comparison with Turner's approach to urban topography.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1934 BM, Exhibition of English Art, no.385
1953 Aug BM, P&D, 'Canaletto and the English draughtsmen', no.46
1958 Apr, BM, Eight centuries of landscape ... water-colours, case 65
1968, London, Royal Academy, Bicentenary Exhibition 1768-1968, no.578
1985, BM, British Landscape Watercolours 1600-1860, no.167
1991 Jan-Mar, Ohio, Cleveland MA, BM English Watercolours, no. 78
1991 Mar-June, N Carolina MA, BM English Watercolours, no. 78
1992 Jun-Nov, Essen, Villa Hugel, 'London 1800-38', no. 260
2013 Jun-Sep, London, Wallace Collection, The Discovery of Paris
- Acquisition date
- 1870
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1870,1008.2364