Étienne Bouhot, The Guardroom. Oil on thin cardboard,... Lot 32

Étienne Bouhot, The Guardroom. Oil on thin cardboard, mounted on canvas. 1830. 29 x 39,5 cm. Signed and dated lower left. Framed. //rg/54,5/4 Bouhot initially trained in Dijon before joining the Paris studio of decorative painter Charles Moench in 1801, who had just been commissioned to decorate Bonaparte's apartments in the Tuileries Palace. He continued his training with Pierre Prévost, known for his topographically accurate vedute, with whom he himself acquired great skill in perspective, until he finally made his Salon debut in 1808 with a view of the Place Vendôme. His Parisian street scenes in particular are today a valuable testament to life in the city during the Empire and the Restoration. With this interior, Bouhot, himself the son of a gendarme, grants us access to a guardroom. The highest-ranking officer, recognizable by his gold epaulettes, sits bent over his desk studying a file, or possibly the daily newspaper. Two other uniformed officers are eating lunch, a third has opened the cell door and is facing a petitioner, or possibly a delinquent in white convict clothing. One is on standby, waiting for the next assignment. The depiction is dated 1830, the year of the July Revolution, which not only resulted in the abdication of the king, but also favored the renewed strengthening of the bourgeoisie. Provenance: private property, North Rhine-Westphalia. Taxation: Differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).