Thomas Shotter Boys 1803-1874

Place de Greve was executed a year before Boys left Paris and returned to England.  It clearly shows Bonington's influence in the broad washes of colour used for the buildings and the highlights which have been scratched out from the surface of the watercolour revealing the paper beneath.  By this date, however, Boys was also asserting his own distinctive style and this can be seen in the solidity of the architecture and the firm use of line and colour to suggest the figures.  This breadth of handling can also be noticed in a preparatory study for the present work which is recorded as being in the collection of Sir Edward Poynter.  

One of the last watercolours Boys painted in Paris before returning to England in 1837 was a view of Quai de La Greve (Victoria and Albert Museum) which shows his attachment to this particular area of Paris.  Back in England, Boy's views of Paris were widely celebrated and the popularity of these works has continued to the present day.  A watercolour entitled Near the Tuilleris Gardens, Paris was sold in these Rooms on 12th June 2003, lot 25 for £65,000.  Another view of Paris of Notre Dame from the Quai St Bernard was sold at Christie's on 8th July 1986, lot 155 for £38,000 and a View from the Pont Royal, Paris was sold in these Rooms on 13th March 1986, lot 134 for £50,000