Portrait of Two Boys (said to be the Autichamp Brothers)
Joseph Boze
(French, 1744–1826)
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions72.4 x 58.4 cm (28 1/2 x 23 in.)
Credit LineBequest of Forsyth Wickes—The Forsyth Wickes Collection
Accession number65.2636
On View
On viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
Boze’s sweetly rendered portraits, usually executed in an oval format, were popular among wealthy patrons and members of the French court. But the painter—who was not an academically trained artist—found less success at the Salon, the official exhibition of Paris’s Académie des Beaux Arts; he exhibited there only once, in 1791. The children in this double‑portrait are traditionally identified as the Autichamp brothers, and most likely belonged to a Royalist family. (The older boy, Charles, later became a count.) Like other artists who aligned themselves with France’s upper class, Boze was forced to go into exile during the most violent period of the French Revolution.
ProvenanceChâteau du Blésois. July 23, 1930, anonymous sale, Hôtel des Ventes, Orléans, France [see note 1]. Probably 1930, sold by Cailleux, Paris to Forsyth Wickes (b. 1876- d. 1964), New York and Newport, RI [see note 2]; 1965, bequest of Forsyth Wickes to the MFA (Accession date: January 8, 1969)NOTES:
[1] See Beaux-Arts, August, 1930, p 9. It sold as "Portrait d'un cadet et son jeune frère" by Greuze for 146,000 fr.
[2] According to Marianne Roland Michel of Cailleux (letter Feb 19, 1990) this painting was sold to Forsyth Wickes on March 10, 1930. However, Wickes must have purchased it on a date after the Orleans sale. The exact date on which Cailleux sold it to Wickes is unknown.
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Joseph Siffred Duplessis
Jean Joseph Taillasson
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