Marie-Désiré BOURGOUIN - The visit

Marie-Désiré BOURGOIN
Paris, 1839 – Bois-le-Roi, 1911
The Visit
Watercolour, graphite
Signed “Bourgoin” lower left
50 x 31 cm (65 x 46 cm with the frame)
Very good condition

Painter and watercolourist of genre scenes and portraits, Marie-Désiré Bourgoin first studied with Fortuné de Fournier d'Ajaccio. He worked for the poet Théodore de Banville and is known for having been the teacher of Sarah Bernhardt (he produced a view of her interior and a portrait of her that was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1864). Bourgoin was also a musician and composed several symphonies. He exhibited his works at the Salon des Artistes Français between 1861 and 1868 and at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in 1888. About this last exhibition, the newspaper La Liberté wrote that he knew "like the great master Jacquemart" how to "penetrate into the freshest and most subtle colors of nature", with a "lightness and an incredible transparency of touch" and a great "truth of his limpid and true effects".
We know in particular of Bourgoin some very beautiful studio views, that of Ernest Meissonier (Carnavalet Museum), of Alphonse Neuville (between 1875 and 1885) (Orsay Museum) and of Sarah Bernhardt (1879 and 1885) (art market) for example. Bourgoin also created some very beautiful interiors in watercolor that reflect the neo-romantic and mannerist taste of the last third of the 19th century.
Our watercolor represents an interior with a young man dressed as an "Incroyable" from the end of the 18th century with his extravagant outfit. He seems to come to visit his beloved, accompanied by a bouquet of flowers and is about to remove his gloves to greet the lady of the house.

Ref: H46IZUSVFS