A Game of Billiards is an 1807 genre painting by the French artist Louis-Léopold Boilly.[1] Produced during the Napoleonic era, it depicts a game of billiards taking place in Paris. It is unusual for the fact both men and women are depicting playing the game.[2]

The painting has been described as Boilly's "most celebrated genre painting".[3] It was exhibited at the Salon of 1808 at the Louvre where it received great acclaim. It was then purchased by the Russian diplomat and art collector Nikolay Yusupov on a visit to Paris.[4] Today it is in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.[5]

References

  1. ^ Sterling p.236
  2. ^ Bailey p.350
  3. ^ Bailey p.350
  4. ^ MacDonald p.158
  5. ^ Bailey p.350

Bibliography

  • Bailey, Colin B. The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting. Yale University Press, 2003.
  • Conisbee, Philip. French Genre Painting in the Eighteenth Century. National Gallery of Art, 2007.
  • MacDonald, Heather Eleanor (ed.) French Art of the Eighteenth Century. Yale University Press, 2016.
  • Sterling, Charles. Great French Painting in the Hermitage. Abrams, 1958.
  • Whitlum-Cooper, Francesca. Boilly: Scenes of Parisian Life. National Gallery Company, 2019.
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