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Lot Essay
The female nude was a favorite subject of Boucher, who often used the pretext of a mythological or allegorical subject to explore and celebrate its form. The present work abandons all narrative. Here a young female sits on a rocky promontory at the water’s edge between two winged putti with lush green foliage surrounding them.
Boucher's female nude compositions were already highly sought-after by collectors in the 18th Century. In the following century the Goncourt brothers wrote: 'What could be more charming than these academies of women by Boucher! They amuse, they provoke, they tickle the eye’ (quoted in F. Joulie, François Boucher, hier et aujourd'hui, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2003-2004, p. 22). When this pastel was offered for sale in Paris in 1898 (Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 5 April 1898, lot 17) it fetched the high sum of 14.800 francs.
We are grateful to Laure Aline Demazure for her help in writing this entry. The work will be included in the Laing-Demazure catalogue raisonné currently in preparation.
Boucher's female nude compositions were already highly sought-after by collectors in the 18th Century. In the following century the Goncourt brothers wrote: 'What could be more charming than these academies of women by Boucher! They amuse, they provoke, they tickle the eye’ (quoted in F. Joulie, François Boucher, hier et aujourd'hui, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2003-2004, p. 22). When this pastel was offered for sale in Paris in 1898 (Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 5 April 1898, lot 17) it fetched the high sum of 14.800 francs.
We are grateful to Laure Aline Demazure for her help in writing this entry. The work will be included in the Laing-Demazure catalogue raisonné currently in preparation.