François Boucher

Sale of the Cabinet de M. *** (Gabriel Huquier the Elder, the second of his sales), 1 July ff. 1771, lot 43 (among the framed drawings),
bought by Lavocat for 6 Livres;
(?) François Guerin (before 1751-after 1791) (L. 1195);
...Le Pelletier Collection, Paris;
sale, New York, Christie's 30 January 1997, lot 150,
where acquired by Bernadette and William M.B. Berger, Denver, Colorado

Aspen, Colorado, Old Master Paintings and Drawings from Colorado Collections, 1998, (catalogue by Timothy J. Standring), p. 69, not numbered;
New York, The Frick Collection; Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada, Watteau and His World: French Drawings from 1700 to 1750, 1999-2000, no. 49;
New York, The Frick Collection, and Fort Worth, The Kimbell Art Museum, The Drawings of François Boucher, 2003-4, (catalogue by Alastair Laing), p. 68, cat no. 15, reproduced p. 69

L. Soullié & Ch. Masson, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné de François Boucher, Paris 1906, p. 63, under no. 1135;
François Boucher: Premier peintre du Roi, 1703-1770, Paris, Galerie Cailleux, 1964, under no. 2;
A. Ananoff (in collaboration with Wildenstein Institute), François Boucher, Paris 1976, vol. I, p. 208, cat. no. 75/4, fig. 335;
P. Jean-Richard, Inventaire général des gravures: École française. vol. I:  L'Oeuvre gravé de François Boucher dans la Collection Edmond de Rothschild, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1978, p. 79, under no. 205;
T. Burollet, Musée Cognacq-Jay: Peintures et dessins, Paris 1980, p. 45, under cat. 10;
A. Laing, J. Patrice Marandel, and P. Rosenberg, François Boucher, 1703-1770, exhib.cat., New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts and Paris, Grand Palais, 1986, p. 148, under no. 21

Laid down. There a number of brown stains, mainly around the edges of the sheet and mount and some located in the lower left section of the sheet. There is a hole/tear lower left. There is a faint grey stain near her head where it appears a label was once on the verso. The mount has suffered a number of abrasions where is was once glued/attached to another mount and there are a number of brown stains throughout. Red chalk remains strong and vibrant.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This spontaneous and vibrant red chalk drawing is a study for the Cookmaid in Boucher’s painting, La Belle Cuisinière, circa 1733/34, housed in the Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris (fig. 1)  It is undoubtedly a true preparatory sketch that has been drawn from life and possesses a freedom and spirit that is quite apart from Boucher’s more finished drawings.

La Belle Cuisinière was painted shortly after Boucher’s return from Italy in the early 1730s and is one of a small group of genre paintings that he executed illustrating a snapshot of domestic life. Fueled by the increasing demand in France, at that time, for pictures in the Dutch and Flemish taste, Boucher responded by producing intimate, mildly erotic scenes with moral undertones that would satisfy his audience.

In terms of dating, the painting must originate from the early 1730s, as an advertisement for Pierre Aveline’s print (in reverse) after La Belle Cuisiniere appeared in the April 1735 edition of the Mercure de France, accompanied by the information that the painting had been recently purchased by an Englishman and taken to London.¹

The painting depicts a young cookmaid standing in a kitchen setting, with an array of cooking utensils and surrounded by fruits and vegetables.  This composition provided Boucher with ample opportunity to demonstrate his skill in the still life genre.  Kneeling at the young woman's side is a young boy, clearly besotted by the handsome cookmaid, who holds her hand and gazes up into her eyes.   The entire composition allows the artist to play to his audience in a very calculating way.  There is no mistaking the strong influence of seventeenth century Dutch genre paintings, but La Belle Cuisinière shows Boucher’s more naturalistic approach, introducing a sensitivity often absent in the artist's more didactic genre scenes.

The Berger drawing focuses on the young cookmaid, and the inclusion of her captivated suitor’s hand clearly indicates that this is a preparatory study for the figure in the painting.  Boucher has drawn her with much more freedom than we see in the oil on panel.  His sprightly and crisp rendering of her drapery is reminiscent of Watteau’s red chalk figure studies and she is certainly no 'stock figure', but a real young woman, studied from life.  The eggs that she holds in her apron are absent in the drawing, as are the key that hangs from her waist.   Another painting, La Belle Villageoise (The Pretty Village Girl), now lost, engraved by Pierre Soubeyran, was advertised in the Mercure in 1738 as the pendant to La Belle Cuisinière.²

The Berger study is one of the most beautiful drawings from this period of Boucher’s career and its early provenance reveals it was greatly admired by Gabriel Huquier the Elder (1695-1772), who is the first recorded owner of this sheet.  Huquier was an engraver and publisher, who owned a great many of Boucher’s works.

We are grateful to Alastair Laing, who, having recently seen the original, has reaffirmed the attribution to Boucher.

^1. P. Jean-Richard., op.cit., p. 79, under no. 205

^2. P. Jean-Richard., op.cit., p. 382, no. 1589