- 7
François Boucher
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- François Boucher
- Study of a Man Raising a Hammer
- Red chalk, heightened with white chalk
- 310 by 189 mm; 12¼ by 7½ in
Provenance
Sale, Espace Drouot, (Raboudin Artus?), 29 June 1987, lot 3 (described as being on a mount with a blind-stamp ‘P’);
With Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, European Drawings, Recent Acquisitions, 1988, cat. no. 63;
sale, New York, Sotheby's, 8 January 1991, lot 170;
with Galerie Librairie Michel Descours, Lyon,
where acquired in 1996
With Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, European Drawings, Recent Acquisitions, 1988, cat. no. 63;
sale, New York, Sotheby's, 8 January 1991, lot 170;
with Galerie Librairie Michel Descours, Lyon,
where acquired in 1996
Condition
Laid down on to a sheet of japan paper which has in turn been hinged along the upper edge to a decorative mount. The sheet has very fractionally discoloured and there are some very minor areas of rubbing to the medium in the lower right quarter. Otherwise in very fine condition with the red chalk medium very fresh and vibrant throughout. Sold in a period, carved and gilded frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Vigorous and imposing, this red chalk drawing is a study for one of the Cyclopes working at the forge of Vulcan in Boucher’s painting, Venus at Vulcan’s Forge, signed and dated 1747, now in the Louvre (fig. 1).1 The figure also appears in a much more ambitious composition designed by Boucher for a Beauvais tapestry, the grisaille sketch for which is in the Louvre.2 The Barnet red chalk figure is a splendid example of one of Boucher’s working drawings, demonstrating the importance of the academy study in artistic training, and revealing Boucher’s great ability to capture the gritty realism of his subjects. Anatomically powerful, this robust and dynamic red chalk drawing is for the middle figure of the three seen in the left background of the Louvre composition. His stance is almost identical to that of the Cyclops in the painting, but his face is much more visible; in the painting the Cyclops on the right is positioned so that his head obscures the middle figure’s face. Boucher has captured the strength and concentration of his figure as he raises his arms above his head, ready to strike down on the metalwork in front of him. Another red chalk study, for the Cyclops to the left of the trio, was part of the Berger Collection of Boucher drawings sold in these Rooms last year.3 A further study in black chalk, for the third figure in the group, is in the Musée de Poitiers.4 The Poitiers study includes another figure, who, with an open mouth, observes his fellow Cyclops with shock and astonishment, but this additional figure does not appear in the final painting. These working studies, clearly drawn from life, highlight Boucher’s skill in rendering the human form and show an entirely different aspect of his artistic abilities from the other, splendid compositional drawing by the artist in the Barnet collection (lot 16).
Boucher’s painting of Venus in Vulcan’s Forge, now in the Louvre, Paris, was exhibited in the Salon of 1747 (where it was noted as being oval in shape). It seems the painting had initially been commissioned in 1746, together with three others, by the Directeur Général des Bâtiments, Monsieur Tournehem, for the apartments of the newly-wed dauphin at Versailles. At an early stage, though, the commission appears to have been reduced from the original four paintings to just two. From a mémoire of the artist we learn that two paintings were commissioned for the King’s bedroom at Marly and some scholars believe that these two works were part of the original plan for the apartments at Versailles. In Boucher’s mémoire there is a brief description of these works, one seemingly describing The Apotheosis of Aeneas (now in a private collection in Massachusetts) and the other as Venus in Vulcan’s Forge (Paris, Louvre).5
We are grateful to Alastair Laing, who, from seeing an image of the drawing, has reaffirmed the attribution to Boucher and provided the 1987 sale reference. Laing suggests that the collector's mark that was on the mount when the drawing was sold in Paris may in fact have been a P with a star over it (L.2063), an as yet unidentified German mark.
1. A. Ananoff, François Boucher, Paris 1976, Vol. 1, cat. 302, reproduced p. 412
2. Ibid., vol. II, no. 351, fig. 1032
3. Sale, New York, Sotheby’s, 25 January 2017, lot 84
4. Ananoff, op.cit., p. 412 no. 302/2
5. For a full account of this project see J. Fack, ‘The Apotheosis of Aeneas: a lost Royal Boucher rediscovered’, The Burlington Magazine, CXIX, 1977, pp. 829-30.
Boucher’s painting of Venus in Vulcan’s Forge, now in the Louvre, Paris, was exhibited in the Salon of 1747 (where it was noted as being oval in shape). It seems the painting had initially been commissioned in 1746, together with three others, by the Directeur Général des Bâtiments, Monsieur Tournehem, for the apartments of the newly-wed dauphin at Versailles. At an early stage, though, the commission appears to have been reduced from the original four paintings to just two. From a mémoire of the artist we learn that two paintings were commissioned for the King’s bedroom at Marly and some scholars believe that these two works were part of the original plan for the apartments at Versailles. In Boucher’s mémoire there is a brief description of these works, one seemingly describing The Apotheosis of Aeneas (now in a private collection in Massachusetts) and the other as Venus in Vulcan’s Forge (Paris, Louvre).5
We are grateful to Alastair Laing, who, from seeing an image of the drawing, has reaffirmed the attribution to Boucher and provided the 1987 sale reference. Laing suggests that the collector's mark that was on the mount when the drawing was sold in Paris may in fact have been a P with a star over it (L.2063), an as yet unidentified German mark.
1. A. Ananoff, François Boucher, Paris 1976, Vol. 1, cat. 302, reproduced p. 412
2. Ibid., vol. II, no. 351, fig. 1032
3. Sale, New York, Sotheby’s, 25 January 2017, lot 84
4. Ananoff, op.cit., p. 412 no. 302/2
5. For a full account of this project see J. Fack, ‘The Apotheosis of Aeneas: a lost Royal Boucher rediscovered’, The Burlington Magazine, CXIX, 1977, pp. 829-30.