Francis Bourgeois

Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois (November 1753 – January 8 1811) was an English-Swiss landscape painter and court painter to George III. He lived with his French partner Noel Desenfans and Desenfans's Welsh wife Margaret Morris. The three lived together in a house in Charlotte (now Hallam) Street, London. With Noël Desenfans, an art dealer, they were commissioned in 1790 by King Stanisław II August Poniatowski, King of Poland, to form a Royal Collection for Poland. The King sent his brother Michel Poniatowski to London to discuss the matter, to promote Nöel Desenfans as Polish consul in London and to present Bourgeois the Order of Merit "Merentibus" on 12 April 1791 (which is kept in the Dulwich Picture Gallery).

In 1795, the King was forced to abdicate and the dealers were left with the royal collection on theirs hands. In public they sought a home for the Royal Collection, approaching amongst others the Tsar of Russia and the British Government. After Desenfans's death in 1807, Francis Bourgeois became sole owner of the Royal Collection. When he died he left his collection to Dulwich College, and £10,000 to build a gallery for them. Dulwich Picture Gallery was therefore founded by the terms of Sir Francis Bourgeois's will upon his death in 1811. Thus came into being England's first public art gallery, built by Sir John Soane who included a mausoleum. Sir Francis Bourgeois decided to have himself and his co-founders, Nöel and Margaret Desenfans, buried in their own mausoleum.

Paintings

• Paysage Anglais, huile signe P.F. Bourgeois 1787, dimensions 47cm de hauteur et 67cm de large, Bourgeois family
• Extensive Picturesque Landscape with Gypsies, by Sir Francis Bourgeois, Tabley House the Dining Room, Leicester family, Knutsford, Cheshire, England
• Mr. Kemble as Coriolanus, by Sir Francis Bourgeois, Sir John Soane's Museum, London
• Scene from Coriolanus, (1797), 89×110 cm, oil on canvas, Standort: London, Courtesy of Trustees of Sir John Soane's Museum
• The Chestnut Hunter, oil on canvas, 33¾"×43", signed and dated lower right "P. F. Bourgeois 1781, framed, titled and labeled on reverse: "British Sporting Paintings," exhibited at Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, England, 1943, loaned by Messrs. Frost & Reed, London, registered stock # of F.R. (Frost & Reed) B311. Note: Label on reverse lists the artist as Sir F. P. Bourgeois, however the biographical listing in E. Benezet is Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois. Condition: Under black light a few small areas of inpainting in the sky and an area to the right of the horse noted; basically in very fine condition. October 2003 Schrager Auction Galleries Ltd. item 1285 price was $18,000.00
• The Ferry's Crossing watercolour/paper 24×37.5 cm sold 09 Sep 1993
• Tobias and the Angel oil panel 20.3×20.8 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Seashore oil canvas 101×106.3 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Friar in Prayer oil panel 16.5×12 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Soldiers oil panel 16.5×12 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Man holding a Horse oil canvas 21×15.8 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Tiger Hunt oil canvas 114.3×142.2cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Landscape with Cattle oil canvas 91.7×145.1cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Cupid oil canvas 60.6×81.9cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Landscape with Cattle oil canvas 101.9×127.5 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Landscape with Soldiers oil canvas 63.8×75.8 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Figures in a Landscape oil canvas 43.2×76.2 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Landscape with Cattle oil canvas 42.9×53 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Cavalry in a Landscape oil canvas 40×67.9 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Self-portrait oil canvas 61×51.8 cm provenance gift of the executors of Sir Felix Agar
• Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois, creator Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois after Sir William Beechey oil canvas 76.2×60.9 cm damaged 1939/45 Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois, creator Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois after Sir William Beechey oil canvas 76.5×64.1 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• William Tell oil canvas 76.8×110.2 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Seashore oil canvas 91.7×146.7 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Landscape with Cattle oil canvas 79.4×107.9 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Funeral Procession oil canvas 131.5×206.1 cm Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Religion in the Desert oil canvas 94.6×120 cm damaged 1939/45 Bourgeois bequest 1811 at the Dulwich
• A Man on Horseback, called Noel Desenfans creator ascribed to Bourgeois, Sir Peter Francis 1756 1811 oil canvas 119.7×101 cm; is the only picture in the collection that could conceivably be identified with no.273 in the 1813 inventory ('Desenfans up on Horse' by Bourgeois). The attribution to Bourgeois, however seems impossible and the identity of the sitter indeterminate. Provenance London, London, Sir Francis Bourgeois, 1811
• Richard Earlom after Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois, Smugglers Defeated. From the original Picture in the Collection of Noel Desenfans Esqr. &c. London, B. B. Evans May 1st 1798. Mezzotint. 520×690mm
• Scene pastorale, dessin lave de sepia, British Museum
• Etude de troupeaux, aquarelle gouache, British Museum
• Peter Francis Bourgeois, The Ferry's Crossing, Watercolor w/scratching out, 9.5×14.8 in. / 24.2×37;5 cm, Signed, sold by Bonhams Chelsea: 9.September 1993 Lot 130 English and Continental Watercolours and Drawings
• Attributed To Peter Francis Bourgeois, Whispering sweet nothings, Oil on Canvas, 28.2×34.5 in. / 71.8×87.6 cm., sold by New Orleans Auction Galleries: 17 November 2002 Lot 975 Sale 0206, no picture available
• After Peter Francis Bourgeois, Cottage Cares (+ Rural Innocence; 2 works by J. Whessell), 1806–, Medium stipple engravings in colors, 24×20.5 in. / 61×52 cm., R. Bowyer, pub., sold by Christie's South Kensington: 27.April 2006 Lot 2773, British and Continental Pictures

External links

• Sir Francis Bourgeois 1753–1811 London/Giez/Grandson
• Revue Historique Vaudoise 1937
• Dulwich Picture Gallery

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.