François Boucher

Jacques Doucet, Paris, until 1912;
His sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 6 June 1912, lot 133;
Baroness Valentine Springer (nee Rothschild), Vienna;
Sold forcibly to the Gemäldegalerie des Kunsthistorischen Museums, Vienna (inv. 6997) and restituted on November 26 1947;
With Galerie Segoura, Paris;
From whom purchased by the present collectors.

A. Ananoff, Boucher, Geneva 1976, vol. II, p. 123, under cat. no. 432;
S. Lillie, Was Einmal War, Czernin Verlag, Vienna 2003, page 1242.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work has been lined. The paint layer is quite flat at present, but the painting was not necessarily very textured originally. The painting is dirty with a yellowed varnish, and it seems that it will respond well to cleaning. Although it seems unlikely, no retouches are visible either under ultraviolet light or to the naked eye. There is very slight thinness to the paint layer in some of the darker shadows, but this is a fairly rapidly painted work and much of the brushiness seems to be intentional. The condition is good, and the painting would respond well to careful restoration.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The composition of La Musique derives from a three-figure composition, Boucher's Allegory of Music (signed and dated 1752), in the North Carolina Museum of Art (inv. no. 52.9.118). 

We are grateful to Alastair Laing for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.