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Lot Essay
Bourgoin, a pupil of Mengs and Casanova, exhibited a pair of Saint-Domingue (present day Haiti and Dominican Republic) subjects at the Salon in 1808 (Nègres de Saint-Domingue, en embuscade, guettant des soldats français qui arrivent. Soldats français se défendant contre des nègres à Saint-Domingue).
The island became France's most flourishing and productive colony in the eighteenth century after trade restrictions were lifted by the mother country in 1722. Unrest followed the French Revolution as the 'free people of colour' (mulattos) and slaves demanded that the principles of the Revolution be extended to them. Following the insurrection of the plantation slaves in 1791, abolition of slavery in the colony in 1793 and the transition of the leader of the blacks, Toussaint l'Ouverture, to commander-in-chief of the French army in the colony in the mid-1790s, the situation reversed as Bonaparte determined to return the colony to slavery in 1801. He sent an army of 25,000 troops under Leclerc which captured Toussaint, but continued to war with the islanders, now led by Dessalines, until 1803. As the French force weakened, the British (who had supported the insurrection against the French) invaded and independence was declared in 1804. The aboriginal name of Haiti was restored and Dessalines was made governor for life. After declaring himself emperor and ruling as a tyrant, he was assassinated in 1806.
Since Haiti's declaration of independence in 1804, the island has remained divided in two, with Haiti occupying the western end and the Dominican Republic occupying the larger eastern area.
Bourgoin's picture displays the 'amusements champêtres' enjoyed by the mixed population of blacks, mulattos and whites on a large plantation, and presumably dates to the early 1800s, contemporary with the Salon pictures of 1808, which suggests the artist may have accompanied Leclerc's forces to the island in 1801.
The island became France's most flourishing and productive colony in the eighteenth century after trade restrictions were lifted by the mother country in 1722. Unrest followed the French Revolution as the 'free people of colour' (mulattos) and slaves demanded that the principles of the Revolution be extended to them. Following the insurrection of the plantation slaves in 1791, abolition of slavery in the colony in 1793 and the transition of the leader of the blacks, Toussaint l'Ouverture, to commander-in-chief of the French army in the colony in the mid-1790s, the situation reversed as Bonaparte determined to return the colony to slavery in 1801. He sent an army of 25,000 troops under Leclerc which captured Toussaint, but continued to war with the islanders, now led by Dessalines, until 1803. As the French force weakened, the British (who had supported the insurrection against the French) invaded and independence was declared in 1804. The aboriginal name of Haiti was restored and Dessalines was made governor for life. After declaring himself emperor and ruling as a tyrant, he was assassinated in 1806.
Since Haiti's declaration of independence in 1804, the island has remained divided in two, with Haiti occupying the western end and the Dominican Republic occupying the larger eastern area.
Bourgoin's picture displays the 'amusements champêtres' enjoyed by the mixed population of blacks, mulattos and whites on a large plantation, and presumably dates to the early 1800s, contemporary with the Salon pictures of 1808, which suggests the artist may have accompanied Leclerc's forces to the island in 1801.