Inscribed, indistinctly titled on the verso. BOUVIER,

Gouache, glazed frame with brass strip in relief and walnut burl veneer. 10.5 x 9 cm, frame 17.5 x 14.5 cm.

Very finely painted portrait of a seated woman in a black dress with rich gold jewelry. Background probably retouched by the artist. Small veneer defects to the frame.

If Pierre Louis B., then: portrait and miniature painter (1766 Geneva - 1836 ibid.), pupil of Fabre, then of Vestier in Paris. After a six-year stay in Hamburg, he settled in Geneva, where he was inundated with portrait commissions. The portrait of Empress Josephine also dates from this period. In 1828, he was appointed director of the Ecole de figure in Geneva, a position he retained until the end of his life.

Literature : Thieme/Becker.