Property from a Private Collection, Japan

François Boucher

The Dream of Saint Joseph

VAT reduced rate

Lot Closed

December 5, 03:20 PM GMT

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from a Private Collection, Japan

François Boucher

Paris 1703 - 1770

The Dream of Saint Joseph

oil on canvas

unframed: 73.5 x 92.4 cm.; 28 7/8 x 36 3/8 in.

framed: 100.2 x 117.2 cm.; 39 1/2 x 46 1/8 in.

The canvas is lined, the paint surface is clean and the varnish is clear, if a little uneven. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals scattered retouchings throughout, comprised mostly of cosmetic restoration, though with more concentrated areas to repaired damages in: the blue drapery of the Virgin, centre; along the left half of the lower margin; and in the angel's chest and right side. The painting presents well in its current state, however, and does not appear in need of any further intervention.

The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.

Private collection, Paris;
By inheritance to Bernard Chesnais, Paris, by 1984;
Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Gentleman'), London, Christie's, 21 April 1989, lot 68;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 15 October 1998, lot 40.

J.-L. Bordeaux, François Le Moyne (1688-1737) and his generation, Paris 1984, p. 31, reproduced fig. 367;
A. Laing, in François Boucher 1703-1770, exh. cat., New York 1986 ed., p. 91, under cat. no. 1, reproduced fig. 70 (erroneously described as on the Paris art market); and Paris 1986-87 ed., p. 96, reproduced p. 97, fig. 70 (as in a private collection).

Identified by Alastair Laing as one of Boucher's earliest surviving works, dating to circa 1721-24, painted while the artist was working in the studio of his first master, François Le Moyne. Dr. Jean-Luc Bordeaux points out that the angel appears strongly indebted to that in Le Moyne's Adoration of the Shepherds, of 1721,¹ a preparatory drawing for which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 61.130.5).²

¹ See Bordeaux 1984, p. 85, cat. no. 29, reproduced fig. 25.

² https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337674