This biography from the Archives of AskART:
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 Louis Boilly was born in a part of Northern France with a strong Flemish influence. In 1785, he settled in Paris, where he made his reputation as a painter of small-scale portraits and genre scenes of contemporary city life. During the Reign of Terror he came under suspicion because of the alleged frivolity of his subjects; only the discovery at his home of drawings for a painting of The Triumph of Marat (c.1794; Versailles) saved him from prison, or worse.
He continued his very productive career (he claimed to have executed 5,000 portraits) recording fashionable Parisian life through the Revolution, the Directory, the Empire, and on into the Restoration period. Among his best-known works is the Gathering of Artists in Isabey's Studio (1798; Paris, Louvre), which depicts meticulously the most successful artists of the day.
Boilly's precisely detailed and smoothly finished style owes much to the Dutch and Flemish genre painters of the 17th century, whose works were widely collected during his lifetime. In the 1820s he was one of the first French artists to experiment with lithography as a way to reproduce his paintings.
Collections
Boilly is represented in the following collections: National Gallery, London; Courtauld Institute of Art, London; The Wallace Collection, London: Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge, UK; The Louvre, Paris; Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris; Musée des Augustins, Toulouse; Fondation Bemberg Museum, Toulouse; Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels; Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Art Institute of Chicago; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, amongst others.
Source:
Sphinx Fine Art
http://www.sphinxfineart.com/Boilly-Louis-L%C3%A9opold-DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=45&tabindex=44&artistid=22424
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| Please note: Artists not classified as American in our database may have limited biographical data
compared to the extensive information about American artists.
 Louis Boilly was born at or near Lille, France July 1761. This well known artist died in Paris January 4th 1845. Louis Leopold Boilly was the son of a wood carver . It is obvious that his father encouraged his artistic endeavors.
He received instruction from Doncre (1743-1720). The artist concentrated on realistic renderings in the "trompe l'oeil" manner. Boilly exhibited at the Salon between 1791-1794. He is known for his genre scenes.
The artist also specialized in fine half-length portraits of men and women and also for miniature portraits in the French style. During his long life Boilly received many honors including the French Legion of Honor in 1883.
Submitted by Jim Kieley Woodbury, Connecticut
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