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Lot Essay
Bouvier is best known as a miniaturist, who was equally skilled working in enamel as well as on ivory. He also worked as a portraitist, producing a small number of works on canvas, and exhibited regularly in his native Geneva as well as at the Paris Salons. Born in Geneva in 1766, the son of a watchmaker, he was apprenticed at an early age to Louis André Fabre who taught him the art of enamelling. In 1785 he travelled to Paris to continue his education under the miniaturist Antoine Vestier, who specialised in painting on ivory. Bouvier remained in Paris until 1788, after which he returned to Geneva. For ten years between 1791 and 1801 he lived in Hamburg, with members of his family, before settling permanently in Geneva, where he became a significant figure in city's artistic life. Among other achievements he invented a machine for mixing colours, he published a manual in 1827 entitled, Manuel des jeunes artistes et amateurs en peinture, and a year later he was appointed Director of the L'Ecole de figure, a post he held until his death in 1836.
The sitter of the present portrait, the Empress Josephine (1763-1814), was well-known to Bouvier. He first encountered her in pre-revolutionary Paris while he was apprenticed to Vestier. At that time the young aristocratic Marie-Josèphe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, called Josephine, had recently married the Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais, by whom she had two children, Eugène and Hortense. During the Revolution both Josephine and her husband, by now separated, were imprisoned. The Vicomte de Beauharnais was guillotined on 23 July 1794, but Josephine, now a penniless widow, was released. Her fortunes improved dramatically when, in 1796, she married the young hero of the Italian Campaign, General Napoleon Bonaparte. She purchased the Château de Malmaison at Rueil in 1799, the year Napoleon became First Consul, and it was here that she was able to indulge her lavish tastes, employing young artists to decorate the interiors in the most modern fashions. She also redesigned the gardens and built up an impressive art collection.
After Napoleon declared himself Emperor in May 1804, Josephine became Empress, and she was annointed by Pope Pius VII and crowned by Napoleon himself on 2 December 1804, a ceremony that was depicted by David in his celebrated canvas Le couronnement de l'Empereur et de l'Impératrice le 2 décembre 1804 (Paris, Musée du Louvre). In 1805 Josephine added Queen of Italy to her other titles and her portrait was painted by the leading artists of the time, including Baron Gros, Gérard, Prud'hon and Isabey.
Josephine's marriage to Napoleon remained childless and in 1809 the couple were divorced, thereby allowing Napoleon to marry Marie-Louise of Austria. Josephine, however, was permitted to retain her titles of Queen and Empress, although she was expected to keep a lower profile than before. She spent much more time at her beloved Malmaison, as well as travelling around Switzerland, Savoy and Italy. The present portrait by Bouvier is datable to these years, and was probably executed around 1812. She wears a richly embroidered satin dress, and an elaborate diamond and turquoise necklace with matching earrings and tiara. She is seated on a gilt bergère, of possibly Italian design, the arms carved with putti carrying baskets of fruit and flowers. The antique-style perfume burner in the background and grand architectural setting with classical columns and arches make this the most elaborate of Bouvier's portraits of the Empress.
Bouvier painted the Empress in a similar pose, wearing the same dress, in a number of miniatures: an enamel, signed and dated 1812 (Château de la Malmaison, illustrated in E. della Santa, 1978, op. cit., pl. XIII); a minature on ivory, signed and dated 1812 (sold Christie's, Geneva, 25 May 1993, lot 144); a replica of this minature, also on ivory and again signed and dated 1812 (Paris, Musée du Louvre, see P. Jean-Richard, Inventaire des Miniatures sur ivoire conservées au cabinet des dessins Musée du Louvre et Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 1994, pp. 60-1, no. 72); and a small miniature also signed and dated 1812 (sold in these Rooms, 14 October 1998, lot 218). The present work is the only recorded portrait of Josephine by Bouvier on canvas.
The sitter of the present portrait, the Empress Josephine (1763-1814), was well-known to Bouvier. He first encountered her in pre-revolutionary Paris while he was apprenticed to Vestier. At that time the young aristocratic Marie-Josèphe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, called Josephine, had recently married the Vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnais, by whom she had two children, Eugène and Hortense. During the Revolution both Josephine and her husband, by now separated, were imprisoned. The Vicomte de Beauharnais was guillotined on 23 July 1794, but Josephine, now a penniless widow, was released. Her fortunes improved dramatically when, in 1796, she married the young hero of the Italian Campaign, General Napoleon Bonaparte. She purchased the Château de Malmaison at Rueil in 1799, the year Napoleon became First Consul, and it was here that she was able to indulge her lavish tastes, employing young artists to decorate the interiors in the most modern fashions. She also redesigned the gardens and built up an impressive art collection.
After Napoleon declared himself Emperor in May 1804, Josephine became Empress, and she was annointed by Pope Pius VII and crowned by Napoleon himself on 2 December 1804, a ceremony that was depicted by David in his celebrated canvas Le couronnement de l'Empereur et de l'Impératrice le 2 décembre 1804 (Paris, Musée du Louvre). In 1805 Josephine added Queen of Italy to her other titles and her portrait was painted by the leading artists of the time, including Baron Gros, Gérard, Prud'hon and Isabey.
Josephine's marriage to Napoleon remained childless and in 1809 the couple were divorced, thereby allowing Napoleon to marry Marie-Louise of Austria. Josephine, however, was permitted to retain her titles of Queen and Empress, although she was expected to keep a lower profile than before. She spent much more time at her beloved Malmaison, as well as travelling around Switzerland, Savoy and Italy. The present portrait by Bouvier is datable to these years, and was probably executed around 1812. She wears a richly embroidered satin dress, and an elaborate diamond and turquoise necklace with matching earrings and tiara. She is seated on a gilt bergère, of possibly Italian design, the arms carved with putti carrying baskets of fruit and flowers. The antique-style perfume burner in the background and grand architectural setting with classical columns and arches make this the most elaborate of Bouvier's portraits of the Empress.
Bouvier painted the Empress in a similar pose, wearing the same dress, in a number of miniatures: an enamel, signed and dated 1812 (Château de la Malmaison, illustrated in E. della Santa, 1978, op. cit., pl. XIII); a minature on ivory, signed and dated 1812 (sold Christie's, Geneva, 25 May 1993, lot 144); a replica of this minature, also on ivory and again signed and dated 1812 (Paris, Musée du Louvre, see P. Jean-Richard, Inventaire des Miniatures sur ivoire conservées au cabinet des dessins Musée du Louvre et Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 1994, pp. 60-1, no. 72); and a small miniature also signed and dated 1812 (sold in these Rooms, 14 October 1998, lot 218). The present work is the only recorded portrait of Josephine by Bouvier on canvas.