François BOUCHER (1703-1770) Couple of shepherds... - Lot 28 - Briscadieu

Lot 28
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Result : 40 000EUR
François BOUCHER (1703-1770) Couple of shepherds... - Lot 28 - Briscadieu
François BOUCHER (1703-1770) Couple of shepherds near a fountain Canvas. 60 x 74 cm. By its subject and its pictorial style, our unpublished painting is very close to several compositions of François Boucher, painted in his youth in the 1720s, just before his stay in Italy. He created a new genre, the pastoral, narrating idylls between young men, shepherds, guarding their flocks. Among these, let us quote: - La Fontaine, Louisville (Kentucky), Speed Art Museum, n°1969.12 - Pastoral, Montauban, Ingres-Bourdelle Museum - Pastoral scene at the fountain, private collection, - La vie champêtre, private collection... We can see the double influence of his master François Lemoyne, by the freshness of the Venetian colors, the dynamism and the composition, and that of Castiglione in the treatment of the herds of dynamic and not frozen animals. Boucher also takes up subjects engraved by Bloemaert, is inspired by Flemish and Dutch painters of the Golden Age, for example here the detail of the dog on the right. The recurring motif of the fountain, worn by time and beginning to be invaded by vegetation, is often found. It is benevolent to lovers because it recalls the mythological legend of the thwarted love at the beginning, then of the eternal union, between the river Alpheus and the source Arethusa. The construction, with the river god holding an urn at the top and his face from which water gushes, recalls the creations of contemporary ornamentalists (Oppenard, Hucquier), in this beginning of the rocaille style. Several artists were inspired by this period of François Boucher, including Jacques de Lajoüe. We thank Mr. Alastair Laing for confirming the attribution to François Boucher by email and digital photograph on November 6, 2022. We thank Mrs Françoise Joulie for confirming the attribution to François Boucher by visual examination on November 18, 2022.
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