Collections Online

Prolific painter known for his genre scenes of Parisian life and society during the Revolution and the French Empire. He is also noted for his pioneering use of lithography. Louis-Leopold Boilly’s father was a wood-carver and he thus came from a modest family. He studied painting as a teenager before moving to Paris in 1785. His slightly erotic genre scenes were popular among many Parisian patrons. After one of his paintings was condemned as obscenity in 1794 and threatened him with imprisonment, Boilly’s began painting social scenes. He created images of the Parisian Salon lifestyle with great detail of expression, gesture, costuming, and textiles.