Alfred Boucher

Alfred Boucher was the son of a farmhand and worked as a gardener for the sculptor Joseph-Marius Ramus. On discovering Boucher’s natural talent for sculpting, Ramus granted Boucher use of his studio. Boucher in turn would go on to encourage young promising sculptors and acted as mentor to Laure Coutan and Camille Claudel, as well as founding the studio, La Ruche, for young artists.

He entered l’Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris in 1869, and studied under the artists Paul Dubois, Antoine Dumont and Marius Ramus. He achieved great success when he exhibited his work at the Exposition Universelle, and was awarded the Grand Prix in 1881 and 1900.

 Boucher was intrigued by the effect of representing soft skin against rough rock and repeatedly explored variations on this theme, carving his models in three-quarter relief.

 While multiple versions of his other models such as Volubilis and La Philosophie de l’histoire are well known, Nu assis de dos is a far rarer model and has appeared on the market very few times before. In contrast to the more overtly erotic Volubilis, the present marble figure turns her back to us; Boucher has carved the spine, shoulder blades and the outline of her ribcage with great sensitivity. This marble is exceptional among Boucher’s body of work as a particularly intimate exploration of the female form. Judging from an archival image of the artist’s studio in Paris, it seems quite likely that this very model stayed in the artist’s own personal collection.

More examples of Boucher’s work can be found in the collection dedicated to his work, the Musée Paul Dubois-Alfred Boucher in Nogent-sur-Seine.