François Boucher

With Michael Voggenauer, Cologne, Französische Zeichnungen des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts, 1980, no. 3, reproduced

Condition very good - chalk strong, some surface dirt; laid down on old mount; small tear under model's right thigh.
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Boucher was appointed professeur titulaire at the Académie Royale where he taught painting and drawing.  In that capacity, he made studies of male models, teaching his pupils to observe the human figure in various poses and movements.  Boucher himself made prints after his academies, and twelve, engraved by Louis Félix de La Rue, were published by Huquier.¹  This drawing does not appear to have been engraved, but it is characteristic in its style and handling.  It can probably be dated around 1740.  Although in general academy studies cannot be related to finished paintings, it appears that Boucher may have occasionally posed models with a particular composition in mind.²

We are grateful to Alastair Laing for kindly confirming the attribution to Boucher.

1.  P. Jean-Richard, L'Oeuvre gravé de François Boucher...., Paris 1978, p. 308-9, nos. 1257-66
2.  François Boucher, exhib. cat., New York, Stair Sainty Matthiesen, 1987, p. 51