The Broom Maker
À propos du tableau
François Bocion (1828-1890) was born in Lausanne. He first trained with Christian Gottlieb Steinlen (1779-1847) in Vevey and subsequently with François Bonnet (1811-1894) in Lausanne. In Paris in 1845, Bocion entered the atelier of Louis-Aimé Grosclaude (1784-1869) and later that of Charles Gleyre (1806-1874) and befriended Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and other important exponents of the Realist movement. Back in Lausanne in 1849 he became a teacher at the Ecole moyenne et industrielle of Lausane, a position he held until his death. At the same time, he had an extensive output with several travels abroad. He exhibited in Paris, Vienna, Anvers, London and was a founder member of the Swiss society of watercolorists (1884).
Lire la suite
This painting is a fine example of Bocion's early compositions when he was inspired by various subject matters. This full-length portrait of a young boy as a broom maker is reminiscent of the Realist interest in rustic subject matters and peasants' life. Bocion produced relatively few similar compositions and soon specialised in what would become the main thematic of his oeuvre: views of the surroundings of the Lake Leman.
Victoria and Albert Museum
