Francis Bourgeois

This article is about the painter. For the trainspotter and social media personality, see Francis Bourgeois (trainspotter).

Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois, by Sir William Beechey
Bust of Peter Bourgeois, Dulwich Art Gallery

Sir Peter Francis Lewis Bourgeois RA (November 1753 – 8 January 1811) was an English landscape painter and history painter, and court painter to king George III of the United Kingdom.[1][2]

In the late 18th century he became an art dealer and collector in association with Frenchman Noël Desenfans. The pair were commissioned by Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski to compile a collection of paintings, which they spent five years doing, but Stanisław's exile in 1795 meant the contract could not be completed and they were left with a large collection of paintings. Bourgeois outlived Desenfans and bequeathed the art to Dulwich College with an additional £2000 to build a permanent building to house it. This became the Dulwich Picture Gallery, England's first purpose-built public art gallery.[3]

  1. ^ Redgrave, Samuel (1878). "Bourgeois, Sir Francis". A dictionary of artists of the English school. G. Bell and sons. pp. 49–50.
  2. ^ "SIR FRANCIS BOURGEOIS, R.A." The Art Journal. 43: 344. 1891.
  3. ^ Dunn, Daisy (2 December 2010). "The history of Dulwich Picture Gallery". The Daily Telegraph.