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La visite rendue (The Visit Returned)
  • Date: 1789
  • Object Type: Painting
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Image size: 45 x 55 cm
  • Inv: P473
  • Location: Boudoir
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Description
Provenance
Further Reading
  • A lady makes an impromptu visit to her lover, whom she surprises in the act of writing. Her portrait is balanced above his desk.

    Together with 'The Sorrows of Love' also at the Wallace Collection (P479), this painting was part of a series of eleven pictures executed for the Avignon nobleman, Antoine Joseph François Xavier Calvet de Lapalun (1736-1820).

    In 1788 Calvet de Lapalun began to refurbish his residence in Avignon. His friend and former client, the marquis Alexandre de Tulle de Villefranche advised him on building an art collection for his new hôtel, putting him in contact with art dealers and artists in Paris, most importantly the young Boilly. In 1789, the marquis sent him, as a gift, two paintings by Boilly – P473 and its pendant, 'La Visite reçue' (Saint-Omer, Musée de l'Hôtel Sandelin). During the following three years, the marquis served as Calvet de Lapalun's agent, assisting with the purchase of nine additional genre paintings by Boilly.

    All eleven paintings in the series are set in upper-middle class interiors and illustrate scenes relating to love. The characters are types, reminiscent of stage actors. The subjects of the first four paintings (including P473 and P479) were provided by the marquis; Calvet de Lapalun detailed those for the subsequent pictures.

    The conservation of 'The Visit Returned' was made possible in 2018 by the generous support of Étienne Bréton/Saint Honore Art Consulting and Pascal Zuber Art Conseil.