DOI Heft:
Nr. 2-3
DOI Artikel:Paszkiewicz, Mieczysław: Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois and his "Rotunda with Figures"
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18820#0066
I think that the picture can be safely identified as the one by Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois
exhibited in the Royal Academy in the spring of 1791: ,,104. The inside of a Rotunda with se-
veral portraits of Polish noblemen and ladies, the Cherokee chiefs and other figures".5 This attri-
bution can be further strengthened by the description of the picture in the press review in The
Times (of 6th May 1791) — „This picture, which, as we are informed, is painted for the King of
Poland" — and again by the rather intimate relations of the painter with the Polish Court, and
with the King's youngest brother, Prince Michał in particular: a relationship to which Bourgeois
owned, at least to sonie extent, his English knighthood.
Peter Francis Bourgeois (1756—1811) was born in London0 in St. Martin's Lane, the son of
a Swiss watchmaker Isaac-Samuel Bourgeois. The family had been established sińce the Middle
Ages in the Vaud canton. The early form of the name was Borgeys or Borgeysi.' Already in 1299
Jean Borgeys is recorded in the district of Grandson and it is from him that ,,la filiation ininter-
rompue commence". In 1553 Francis Borgeys, a nobleman, was a judge in that district. He was
the first who changed the spelling of the name to Bourgeois. In 1613 one of the branches of the
family bought the castle of Giez near Grandson and settled there. It was in this castle, in 1726,
that the father of the painter was born. He had maried an English woman, Elizabeth Gardin, and
went to London where he spent most of his life, practising his trade. He returned to Switzerland
not long before his death and died in Giez in 1793.
The father wanted Peter-Francis to became a soldier and even secured for him the patronage
of George Augustus Eliott, first baron Heathfield, the defender of Gibraltar, but the young man
was determined to became a painter. He studied landscape-painting under Philip James de
Loutherbourg. In 1776 Bourgeois went in the Grand Tour to Italy, visiting France and Holland
on his way. In 1779 he exhibited for the first time in the Royal Academy. From this year onwards
he was represented in all annual exhibitions till 1810, with the exception of 1809. In total he
exhibited 103 pictures in the Royal Academy and 5 in the British Institution.8 In 1787 he was
elected ARA and in 1793 — RA.
But already a few years earlier some important events happened in the life of the artist: impor-
tant, and particularly relevant to the picture in craestion. In 1790 Bourgeois met Prince Michał-Je-
rzy Poniatowski (1736—1794), the youngest brother of King Stanislaus and the Primate of
Poland. The Prince was staying in England in a sort of voluntary exile, being in strong opposi-
tion to the constitutional reforms debated at the time by the Polish parliament in Warsaw.
The Primate was interested in arts and letters. Thanks, partly, to the contacts of the Polish Am-
bassador, Franciszek Bukaty, the Prince ąuickly established himself in fashionable London so-
ciety. His presence was warmly acknowledge in The Times; „Prince Poniatowski, the brother
of the reigning King of Poland, who is now in London is a personage of the first accomplishments
and universal erudition".9 He was elected a Honorary Member of the Society of Antiquaries
on the 7 April 1791 and from this date onwards his name figured yearly on the lists of members,
next to George III, the Duke of Clarence and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel.
Prince Michał was very actiye in acquiring a large number of pictures on the London art market
for his brother, King Stanislaus, a well known collector and connoisseur. These purchases were
organized by a very successful French art-dealer, Noel Desenfans who was created for the purpose
the Polish Consul. Desenfans was a close friend of Bourgeois and it was probably he who recom-
5. A. Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1905-6, I, p. 252.
6. The Dictionary of National Biography, 1885 —1900, VI, p. 19; D. Agassiz, „Sir Franęois Bourgeois, 1756 — 1811, Un paysa-
giste suisse a la Cour du roi George III d'Anglcterrc", Iievue Historiąue Yaudoisc, Mai-Juin, 1937 (Lausanne).
7. Almanach Genealogiąue Suisse, 1933, pp. 100 — 104. Faets and dates concerning Peter-Francis are partly incorrect, follo-
wing mistakes in the Armorial Genealogiąue Suisse.
8. A. Graves, A Dictionary of Artists who have exhibited Works in the Principal London Exhibitions from 1760 to 1893, London,
1901. p. 31.
9. The Times, 25 January, 1791, p. 2, col. 3.
56
exhibited in the Royal Academy in the spring of 1791: ,,104. The inside of a Rotunda with se-
veral portraits of Polish noblemen and ladies, the Cherokee chiefs and other figures".5 This attri-
bution can be further strengthened by the description of the picture in the press review in The
Times (of 6th May 1791) — „This picture, which, as we are informed, is painted for the King of
Poland" — and again by the rather intimate relations of the painter with the Polish Court, and
with the King's youngest brother, Prince Michał in particular: a relationship to which Bourgeois
owned, at least to sonie extent, his English knighthood.
Peter Francis Bourgeois (1756—1811) was born in London0 in St. Martin's Lane, the son of
a Swiss watchmaker Isaac-Samuel Bourgeois. The family had been established sińce the Middle
Ages in the Vaud canton. The early form of the name was Borgeys or Borgeysi.' Already in 1299
Jean Borgeys is recorded in the district of Grandson and it is from him that ,,la filiation ininter-
rompue commence". In 1553 Francis Borgeys, a nobleman, was a judge in that district. He was
the first who changed the spelling of the name to Bourgeois. In 1613 one of the branches of the
family bought the castle of Giez near Grandson and settled there. It was in this castle, in 1726,
that the father of the painter was born. He had maried an English woman, Elizabeth Gardin, and
went to London where he spent most of his life, practising his trade. He returned to Switzerland
not long before his death and died in Giez in 1793.
The father wanted Peter-Francis to became a soldier and even secured for him the patronage
of George Augustus Eliott, first baron Heathfield, the defender of Gibraltar, but the young man
was determined to became a painter. He studied landscape-painting under Philip James de
Loutherbourg. In 1776 Bourgeois went in the Grand Tour to Italy, visiting France and Holland
on his way. In 1779 he exhibited for the first time in the Royal Academy. From this year onwards
he was represented in all annual exhibitions till 1810, with the exception of 1809. In total he
exhibited 103 pictures in the Royal Academy and 5 in the British Institution.8 In 1787 he was
elected ARA and in 1793 — RA.
But already a few years earlier some important events happened in the life of the artist: impor-
tant, and particularly relevant to the picture in craestion. In 1790 Bourgeois met Prince Michał-Je-
rzy Poniatowski (1736—1794), the youngest brother of King Stanislaus and the Primate of
Poland. The Prince was staying in England in a sort of voluntary exile, being in strong opposi-
tion to the constitutional reforms debated at the time by the Polish parliament in Warsaw.
The Primate was interested in arts and letters. Thanks, partly, to the contacts of the Polish Am-
bassador, Franciszek Bukaty, the Prince ąuickly established himself in fashionable London so-
ciety. His presence was warmly acknowledge in The Times; „Prince Poniatowski, the brother
of the reigning King of Poland, who is now in London is a personage of the first accomplishments
and universal erudition".9 He was elected a Honorary Member of the Society of Antiquaries
on the 7 April 1791 and from this date onwards his name figured yearly on the lists of members,
next to George III, the Duke of Clarence and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel.
Prince Michał was very actiye in acquiring a large number of pictures on the London art market
for his brother, King Stanislaus, a well known collector and connoisseur. These purchases were
organized by a very successful French art-dealer, Noel Desenfans who was created for the purpose
the Polish Consul. Desenfans was a close friend of Bourgeois and it was probably he who recom-
5. A. Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1905-6, I, p. 252.
6. The Dictionary of National Biography, 1885 —1900, VI, p. 19; D. Agassiz, „Sir Franęois Bourgeois, 1756 — 1811, Un paysa-
giste suisse a la Cour du roi George III d'Anglcterrc", Iievue Historiąue Yaudoisc, Mai-Juin, 1937 (Lausanne).
7. Almanach Genealogiąue Suisse, 1933, pp. 100 — 104. Faets and dates concerning Peter-Francis are partly incorrect, follo-
wing mistakes in the Armorial Genealogiąue Suisse.
8. A. Graves, A Dictionary of Artists who have exhibited Works in the Principal London Exhibitions from 1760 to 1893, London,
1901. p. 31.
9. The Times, 25 January, 1791, p. 2, col. 3.
56