Alfred Boucher

J. Piette, Alfred Boucher 1850-1934: L'oeuvre sculpté, catalogue raisonné, Paris, 2014, pp. 138-139, no. A31B

Overall the condition of the marble is good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. The proper right arm and proper right index finger are reattached. The wings are carved separately and open joints are visible and they are a little loose, in particular, the proper left wing. There is some minor veining to the marble consistent with the material, in particular to the back of the wingless figure. There are some small naturally occurring inclusions. There are small chips and abrasions around the edges of the base and some very minor abrasions to the toes. There are a few small chips to the tip of the proper left wing and there are some dirt marks including around the base
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This beautiful double figure group of an angel and her companion in flight appears to be the only marble version Alfred Boucher carved of his L'Envol. The plaster version is lost, known only from a photograph of Boucher's atelier (published by Piette, op. cit., pp. 138-139). Created in 1891, L'Envol predates Boucher's Michelangelesque nudes, which emerge from roughly hewn rock (see, for example, his Nu de face, sold in these rooms on 25 November 2009, lot 96, for a record price of £253,250). However, the group stands at the beginning of a series of evocative, sensuous, female nudes, exemplified by his Volubilis (circa 1896-1897), known from numerous versions in full figure and bust form (see Piette, op. cit., pp. 170-189, no. A38). The present figures are imbued with the same idealised bodies, combined with the faces of contemporary Parisian models, and hair pulled up into buns at the back of the head (a style seen in numerous of the sculptor's compositions). The left figure's wings mark her out as an angel, immediately recalling Boucher's celebrated Hirondelle blessée (1898; Piette, op. cit., pp. 200-205, no 41), a model reused by Damien Hirst a century later for his The Anatomy of an Angel (2008). The identity of the wingless nude and, as such, the narrative subject of the group, is sadly unknown, but the angel appears to be calmly saving the young girl, or transporting her to the heavens. Regardless of the precise meaning of the group, it is undoubtedly in tune with contemporary Belle Époque tastes and recalls, in particular, the paintings of William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905). The multi-figure composition may, however, be interpreted as a nod to Boucher's own, less ethereal sculpture, his celebrated Au but, which represents a group of three athletes striving for the finish line in a race. The group received considerable critical acclaim and a life-size cast was acquired for the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Alfred Boucher created some of the most delicate and alluring nudes of the late 19^thCentury, and was famed for his ability to ‘célébrer avec amour le corps féminin’ [lovingly celebrate the female body] (Lucien Morel-Payen, La Tribune de l’Aube, 1933). Although he also cast his models in bronze, Boucher’s skill is epitomised in his marbles, where he manipulates the stone into the smooth and glistening surfaces of skin, sometimes setting it against the contrast of hard rocks, as discussed above. 

Boucher came from a modest family in Nogent-sur-Seine, the son of a gardener and a housekeeper. His parents worked for the sculptor Marius Ramus (1805-1888) and it was in Ramu’s studio that Boucher made his first models as a boy. Ramu introduced the prodigy to the sculptor Paul Dubois, another native of Nogent-sur-Seine. The introduction led to a bursary to study in Paris under Dubois and Dumont. Dubois also encouraged Boucher to travel to Italy where he discovered the antique sculptures which were to have a lasting influence on his work.

RELATED LITERATURE
J. Piette, Alfred Boucher 1850-1934 "sculpteur – humaniste", ex. cat. Musée Paul Dubois – Alfred Boucher, Nogent-sur-Seine, 2000; J. Piette, Alfred Boucher 1850-1934: L'oeuvre sculpté, catalogue raisonné, Paris, 2014, pp. 138-139, no. A31B

Sotheby's would like to thank Jacques Piette, author of 'Alfred Boucher, l'oeuvre sculpté, catalogue raisonné', for his kind assistance with cataloguing this lot.