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Lot Essay
Born in Geneva, Ferrière probably received his early training with Jean-Étienne Liotard before moving to Paris to study at the Académie des Beaux-Arts under Joseph-Marie Vien. By 1770 he had returned to his native city where he established himself as a painter and is documented ‘restoring’ paintings belonging to the city’s library. With the outbreak of the French Revolution and the ensuing unrest in Switzerland, Ferrière and his family emigrated to England, where the painter began specializing in miniatures and became a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1793. After a period in Russia, Ferrière spent some time working in London before returning to Switzerland where he once again became a prominent artistic figure and member of the Société des Arts.
As he is perhaps best-known as a miniaturist, paintings by Ferrière are rare in the artist’s surviving oeuvre. This lively depiction of a young boy carrying a painting under his arm is therefore a rare example that demonstrates the artist’s remarkably lucid, refined technique in oil. Comparable in tone and composition to pictures Ferrière would likely have seen in Paris, like Vien’s Portrait of Jacques-Louis David as a youth (c. 1765; Angers, Musée des Beaux-Arts, MBA J 777 (J1881)P), the present portrait shows a remarkable sense of animation and character. The shadow cast by the boy’s hat creates stronger highlights that emphasize his ruddy cheeks and the shining reflections in his eyes, while his gesture and engagement with something outside the picture field convey a sense of imminent movement.
As he is perhaps best-known as a miniaturist, paintings by Ferrière are rare in the artist’s surviving oeuvre. This lively depiction of a young boy carrying a painting under his arm is therefore a rare example that demonstrates the artist’s remarkably lucid, refined technique in oil. Comparable in tone and composition to pictures Ferrière would likely have seen in Paris, like Vien’s Portrait of Jacques-Louis David as a youth (c. 1765; Angers, Musée des Beaux-Arts, MBA J 777 (J1881)P), the present portrait shows a remarkable sense of animation and character. The shadow cast by the boy’s hat creates stronger highlights that emphasize his ruddy cheeks and the shining reflections in his eyes, while his gesture and engagement with something outside the picture field convey a sense of imminent movement.