FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (PARIS 1703-1770) - photo 1
FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (PARIS 1703-1770) - photo 2
FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (PARIS 1703-1770) - photo 3

FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (PARIS 1703-1770)

Sold
€ 47 880
Auction dateClassic
18.05.2022 14:30UTC +02:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
France, Paris
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 761378
Lot 228 | FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (PARIS 1703-1770)
FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (PARIS 1703-1770)L'oiseleurhuile sur toile54,5 x 46 cm (21 1⁄2 x 18 in.) Provenance Collection Madame R. M..., 1945 (selon le catalogue d'exposition de 1945, op. cit. infra). Galerie Cailleux, Paris, France. Collection aristocratique française, Paris, France, 1957 ; puis par descendance aux actuels propriétaires, Paris, France. Literature H. Voss, 'François Boucher's Early Development', The Burlington Magazine, mars 1953, XCV, 600, p. 90, reproduit en noir et blanc fig. 72. Exhibited Paris, galerie Cailleux, Peintures de la réalité au 18e siècle, 1945, n°4. Paris, galerie Charpentier, L'enfance, 1949, n°31. Paris, galerie Cailleux, François Boucher. Premier Peintre du Roi, 1964, n°6. Special notice This item will be transferred to an offsite warehouse after the sale. Please refer to department for information about storage charges and collectiondetails. Post lot text FRANÇOIS BOUCHER, THE BIRDCATCHER, OIL ON CANVASThis young birdcatcher holding a sparrow in his left hand is one of François Boucher’s (1703-1770) early works. Before becoming a rococo painter, and thus incarnating the sensual art that flourished in the France of Louis XV (1710-1774), Boucher’s early production was distinctly influenced by Flemish painters, the picturesque, and genre scenes. In a communication written on the 29th of March 2009, Alastair Lang reminds us that during his stay in Italy from 1727 until 1731, Boucher was known as an artist working in the Flemish manner. Upon his return to France in 1732-1734, two major commissions would fuel that northern sensibility. The first was a series of humorous drawings designed to illustrate Molière’s (1622-1673) books and meant to serve as models for engravings. The second is a Livre d’étude of compositions after Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651), which Boucher engraved himself (H. Voss, op. cit., p. 82). Whilst this borrowing from Netherlandish artists of the previous century is particularly visible in Boucher’s works from that decade, he remains an artist of his time, often adding a lively, frivolous and sensual character to his northern predecessor’s trivial themes. In particular, the subject of the birdcatcher carries with it direct allusions to seduction and sexuality, as is clearly highlighted in another version where a young birdcatcher is handing the animal to a young girl, who puts it in a cage (The bird nesters, vente Christie’s, New York, 23rd October 2012, lot 89). Alastair Lang also proposed the hypothesis that our birdcatcher may have been part of a pair; its pendant possibly representing a young woman (perhaps holding a cage?). The highly lively brushwork of our painting (reminiscent of Frans Hals (1582-1666) according to Hermann Voss (1884-1969)) can also be found in a painting recently brought to market by Christie’s, The landscape painter (Christie’s sale, New York, 19th April 2018, lot 35), in which we also find a heavy and strengthened line within the context of a somewhat rustic theme. Finally, Herman Voss suggested a link between the model of our picture and the young man wearing a large felt hat represented in La cuisinère et le jeune garçon, which was once part of the C. E. Riche collection. An interesting trace of Boucher’s early years, our painting testifies to the strong influence that Flemish artists had on rococo painters, from Boucher to Fragonard (1732-1806), and the latter’s profoundly French reinterpretation of the former. We would like to thank Alastair Lang and Françoise Joulie for confirming this painting’s attribution to François Boucher after direct examination.
Artist:François Boucher (1703 - 1779)
Applied technique:Oil on canvas
Art style:Old Masters
Genre:Genre art, Portrait
Place of origin:Western Europe, France, Europe
Auction house category:Paintings
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
9 Avenue Matignon
75008 Paris
France
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18.05.2022 – 18.05.2022
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