The Arcades at the Palais-Royal
Louis Léopold Boilly (French, 1761-1845)
c. 1804
View the original$18
Type
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
This remarkably frank image flouted the norms of acceptable subject matter. Here, Boilly depicted the prostitutes—and the men who solicited them—who gathered in the arcade of the Palais-Royal in Paris. Better known for his charming genre paintings, Boilly was denounced in 1793 by a French revolutionary tribunal for painting pictures “of revolting obscenity to republican morals.” He survived and even in 1804, under the Napoleonic government’s somewhat looser standards, he was pushing the boundaries of propriety.
- Medium
- Pen and black ink, and brush and gray wash, with gray gouache, over black chalk, on ivory laid paper
- Original size
- 36.5 × 45.7 cm (14 3/8 × 18 in.)
Museum record · 3 owners · 6 exhibitions
Provenance
- J. B. Delestre; probably sold, Paris, November 21, 1865.
- Sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 21, 1910, lot 1.
- Sold by Stephen Spector, New York, to the Art Institute, 1963.
Exhibitions
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Selected Works of 18th Century French Art in the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago," January 24-March 28, 1976.
- Paris, Musée du Louvre, "Dessins français de l’Art Institute de Chicago de Watteau à Picasso," October 15, 1976-January 17, 1977, n.p..
- Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, "Französische Zeichnungen aus dem Art Institute of Chicago," February 10-April 10, 1977.
- New York, Wildenstein & Co., "Consulat, Empire, Restauration: Art in Early 19th Century France," April 21-May 28, 1982.
- Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Palais des Beaux-Art, "Louis-Léopold Boilly", November 4, 2011 - February 6, 2012.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Gods and (Super)heroes: Drawing in an Age of Revolution", November 16, 2017 - April 1, 2018.
