Louis René BOQUET (Paris 1717-1814) Lot n° 32

Portrait of Duke Charles Eugene of Wurtemberg Pen and black ink, watercolor Signed and dated lower right in pen L. Boquet. J. D. 1761 Draughtsman of the cabinet of H.S.H. the Duke Regent of Wurtemberg 39,5 x 28,5 cm Pupil of François Boucher, Louis-René Boquet was a member of the Academy and painter of the king Louis XV, creating in particular the costumes of the spectacles given to the theater of the Small Apartments of Versailles. In 1775 he was in charge of the interior decoration of the cathedral of Reims for the coronation of Louis XVI. He then became a member of the services of the Menus-Plaisirs. Louis René Boquet has been remembered as an innovator in the field of ballet costumes. He tried to bring more naturalness and verisimilitude by lightening them, opening the way to romantic costumes. His work was mainly influenced by the ballet master Jean-Georges Noverre, a great reformer of dance at the time, with whom he collaborated on several occasions. In 1763 Boquet worked with Noverre and Servandoni on the ballet Médée et Jason which was premiered on June 11, 1763, in Stuttgart on the occasion of the birthday of Duke Charles Eugene of Wurtemberg. The event had a considerable impact, and is considered emblematic of Noverre's reform of theatrical aesthetics. Boquet obviously participated in it. No doubt he had met the duke Charles Eugene of Wurtemberg, a great lover of spectacles and pomp, on the occasion of a similar project. The eldest son of Charles-Alexandre de Wurtemberg, Charles II Eugène (1728-1793) spent his childhood at the court of Frederick II of Prussia, where he received a careful education. He succeeded his father in 1737, under the guardianship of his mother, since he was only nine years old. He later showed a certain political incapacity when in 1748 most of the Württemberg fiefs passed to France. However, Charles II Eugene left an image of an enlightened patron of the arts. During his youth in Prussia, he had received music lessons from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who dedicated sonatas to him. He was the protector of the writer Friedrich von Schiller. He died in exile in Hohenheim because of the French Revolution.