- 103
François Boucher
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- François Boucher
- Study for the frontispiece to Le Bâtiment de Saint-Sulpice
- Pen and gray ink and wash within pen and black ink framing lines;
bears signature/ signed (?) in pen and gray ink, lower left: f. Boucher and inscribed in pen and gray ink, upper left on the banner: Quod Cogitasti in Corde tuo aedificare/domum nomini meo, benefecisti/hoc ipsum mente tractans... - 8 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches
Provenance
Bears unidentified mounter's drystamp, lower right (L.3062);
possibly Paignon-Dijonval collection, cat. no. 3377;
possibly Eugène Féral,
possibly his sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 22-24 April 1901, lot 183;
possibly Rodrigues Collection, as of 1912;
Caudin Collection;
Bloch Collection, until 1972,
when acquired by the present owner
possibly Paignon-Dijonval collection, cat. no. 3377;
possibly Eugène Féral,
possibly his sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 22-24 April 1901, lot 183;
possibly Rodrigues Collection, as of 1912;
Caudin Collection;
Bloch Collection, until 1972,
when acquired by the present owner
Exhibited
New York, Wildenstein, François Boucher, 1980, no. 53, reproduced fig. 51;
Tokyo, Metropolitan Art Museum, and Kumamoto, Prefectural Museum of Art, François Boucher, 1982, no. 94, reproduced pp. 132 and 192;
Tokyo, Wildenstein, François Boucher, 1991, no. 18, reproduced pl. 18 and fig. 18;
Tokyo, Wildenstein, Les Grands Maîtres du dessin français du XVIIIe siècle: Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, 1995, no. 10, reproduced
Tokyo, Metropolitan Art Museum, and Kumamoto, Prefectural Museum of Art, François Boucher, 1982, no. 94, reproduced pp. 132 and 192;
Tokyo, Wildenstein, François Boucher, 1991, no. 18, reproduced pl. 18 and fig. 18;
Tokyo, Wildenstein, Les Grands Maîtres du dessin français du XVIIIe siècle: Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, 1995, no. 10, reproduced
Literature
H. Cohen, Guide de l'amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1912, col. 805;
A. Ananoff, L'Oeuvre dessiné de François Boucher, vol. I, Paris 1966, p. 243, no. 933;
A. Ananoff, François Boucher, Lausanne and Paris 1976, vol. I, reproduced p. 27, fig. 65;
P. Jean-Richard, L'Oeuvre gravé de François Boucher dans la collection Edmond de Rothschild, Paris 1978, p. 231, under no. 876;
R.S. Slatkin, 'The Literature of Art: L'Oeuvre gravé de François Boucher dans la Collection Edmond de Rothschild...,' Burlington Magazine, vol. CXXII, no. 923, February 1980, p. 134
A. Ananoff, L'Oeuvre dessiné de François Boucher, vol. I, Paris 1966, p. 243, no. 933;
A. Ananoff, François Boucher, Lausanne and Paris 1976, vol. I, reproduced p. 27, fig. 65;
P. Jean-Richard, L'Oeuvre gravé de François Boucher dans la collection Edmond de Rothschild, Paris 1978, p. 231, under no. 876;
R.S. Slatkin, 'The Literature of Art: L'Oeuvre gravé de François Boucher dans la Collection Edmond de Rothschild...,' Burlington Magazine, vol. CXXII, no. 923, February 1980, p. 134
Condition
Partially laid down. Overall in good condition. Some light brown staining in the upper left corner. Few fox marks at lower left margin. Pen and ink and wash remains fresh and strong.
Sold in 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
This lively and imaginative design bears witness to the important place of prints and printmaking in Boucher's work, and to his great commitment to this medium. The drawing was engraved, in reverse, by Claude Duflos the Younger as the frontispiece to Alexis Piron's poem, Le Bâtiment de Saint-Sulpice, published in Paris in 1744 (fig. 1). The verse celebrates the recent construction of the façade of the Parisian church of Saint-Sulpice, undertaken by the architect Jean Nicolas Servandoni in 1733.
Towards the top of the composition we see personifications of the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. In the medallion, Boucher has drawn the distinctive façade of the church, and below an angel holding a censer kneels at an altar, while nearby Time wrestles playfully with a putto.
Alastair Laing, who has confirmed the attribution on the basis of a photograph, has kindly informed us that he thinks this may be one of a pair of frontispiece designs by Boucher that were in the Paignon-Dijonval collection, but that he also thinks that the drawing of this subject that is known to have been in the Féral and Rodrigues collections was probably a copy after the print that is now in the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, rather than the present work, as believed by Cohen and Ananoff.