Lot Essay
A study for the standing figure of the young cook in La Belle Cuisinière (fig. 1) now at the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris, A. Laing, op. cit., no. 21, illustrated. An engraving after the picture by Aveline, advertised by the Mercure de France in 1735, offers a terminus ante quem for the dating of the composition. It is one of a group of three works set in a kitchen one of which, La Belle Villageoise, was also engraved by Aveline, and was the pendant to La Belle Cuisinière. Formerly in the Duc de Luynes's collection, is now lost.
These compositions, inspired by Dutch genre scenes, were painted during the two years which followed the artist's return from Italy in 1731. Boucher's drawings and later engravings of figure studies after Bloemaert are evidence of his interest in the Northern School. The image of the young girl carrying what appear in the picture to be eggs in her apron has Dutch origins and is a symbol of endangered virginity. Greuze was later to paint a very similar subject, now in the Metropolitan Museum.
Diderot was an admirer of Boucher's early style, but became a stern critic of the artist's later production. 'This man, when he had just returned from Italy did some very fine things; his coloring was vigorous and true; his compositon was well planned yet full of fire; his handling was broad and bold [...] He has old portfolios stuffed with admirable things', Diderot, Salons, Paris, edited by J. Seznec and J. Adhémar, I, 1975, p. 205.
Indeed Boucher's portfolios included a stock of figure studies which Boucher used in different works. The present study was re-used for the plate Des Radis des Raves in the series of the Cris de Paris engraved by Ravenet and published in 1737. The boldness of execution is characteristic of drawings from Boucher's early period, several of which have reappeared in recent years such as the study of the head and arm of a shepherd for La Fontaine, sold at Christie's, Monaco, 30 June 1995, lot 92. Other sheets are at Stockholm such as the study for the main figure in Le Bonheur du Village which is now at the Alte Pinakothek, Munich and which depicts a theme close to that of La Belle Cuisinière showing a man making advances to a young girl wearing an apron, P. Bjurström, French Drawings, Eighteenth-Century, Stockholm, 1982, no. 829, illustrated.
We are grateful to Alistair Laing for confirming the attribution of the drawing.
These compositions, inspired by Dutch genre scenes, were painted during the two years which followed the artist's return from Italy in 1731. Boucher's drawings and later engravings of figure studies after Bloemaert are evidence of his interest in the Northern School. The image of the young girl carrying what appear in the picture to be eggs in her apron has Dutch origins and is a symbol of endangered virginity. Greuze was later to paint a very similar subject, now in the Metropolitan Museum.
Diderot was an admirer of Boucher's early style, but became a stern critic of the artist's later production. 'This man, when he had just returned from Italy did some very fine things; his coloring was vigorous and true; his compositon was well planned yet full of fire; his handling was broad and bold [...] He has old portfolios stuffed with admirable things', Diderot, Salons, Paris, edited by J. Seznec and J. Adhémar, I, 1975, p. 205.
Indeed Boucher's portfolios included a stock of figure studies which Boucher used in different works. The present study was re-used for the plate Des Radis des Raves in the series of the Cris de Paris engraved by Ravenet and published in 1737. The boldness of execution is characteristic of drawings from Boucher's early period, several of which have reappeared in recent years such as the study of the head and arm of a shepherd for La Fontaine, sold at Christie's, Monaco, 30 June 1995, lot 92. Other sheets are at Stockholm such as the study for the main figure in Le Bonheur du Village which is now at the Alte Pinakothek, Munich and which depicts a theme close to that of La Belle Cuisinière showing a man making advances to a young girl wearing an apron, P. Bjurström, French Drawings, Eighteenth-Century, Stockholm, 1982, no. 829, illustrated.
We are grateful to Alistair Laing for confirming the attribution of the drawing.