Alfred Boucher

ALFRED BOUCHER (1850-1934) Exceptionnelle sculpture en taille directe sur marbre blanc de Carrare figurant une jeune femme nue au pied d'un rocher. Signée en bas à droite «A.Boucher». Vers 1900. H : 53,5 cm An Exceptional, directly carved white Carrare marble sculpture representing a woman at the foot of a rock. Signed on the lower right «A.Boucher». Circa 1900. H : 21 in Alfred Boucher fit ses premières armes en sculpture dans l'atelier de Nogent-sur-Seine où il découvrit Camille Claudel. On retrouve dans ses oeuvres une puissante personnalité et une recherche harmonieuse des formes. Il exposa au Salon de 1898, puis à l'exposition Universelle de 1900, un haut-relief proche de celui présenté, intitulé « La philosophie de l'histoire ». Ce modèle fait partie des nombreuses variantes existantes. L'évocation féminine de la beauté est récurrente dans son oeuvre. Il utilise également une technique jouant sur l'effet de contraste entre les parties lisses et brutes. Alfred Boucher started to learn how to sculpt in the Nogent-sur-Seine studio where he first met Camille Claudel. His strong personality can be seen throughout his work and in the harmony of his research in form. He showed a high relief similar to this one, called « La philosophie de l'histoire » in the 1898 Salon and then in the Universelle exhibition of 1900. This model is one of the many versions still existing. The evocation of feminine beauty is of ten present in his work and he also liked the effect of contrast between smooth and rough surfaces. ALFRED BOUCHER (1850-1934) Exceptionnelle sculpture en taille directe sur marbre blanc de Carrare figurant une jeune femme nue au pied d'un rocher. Signée en bas à droite «A.Boucher». Vers 1900. H : 53,5 cm An Exceptional, directly carved white Carrare marble sculpture representing a woman at the foot of a rock. Signed on the lower right «A.Boucher». Circa 1900. H : 21 in Alfred Boucher fit ses premières armes en sculpture dans l'atelier de Nogent-sur-Seine où il découvrit Camille Claudel. On retrouve dans ses oeuvres une puissante personnalité et une recherche harmonieuse des formes. Il exposa au Salon de 1898, puis à l'exposition Universelle de 1900, un haut-relief proche de celui présenté, intitulé « La philosophie de l'histoire ». Ce modèle fait partie des nombreuses variantes existantes. L'évocation féminine de la beauté est récurrente dans son oeuvre. Il utilise également une technique jouant sur l'effet de contraste entre les parties lisses et brutes. Alfred Boucher started to learn how to sculpt in the Nogent-sur-Seine studio where he first met Camille Claudel. His strong personality can be seen throughout his work and in the harmony of his research in form. He showed a high relief similar to this one, called « La philosophie de l'histoire » in the 1898 Salon and then in the Universelle exhibition of 1900. This model is one of the many versions still existing. The evocation of feminine beauty is of ten present in his work and he also liked the effect of contrast between smooth and rough surfaces.

LOT 130 ALFRED BOUCHER FRENCH 1850 - 1934 JEANNE D'ARC ÉCOUTANT SES VOIX (JOAN OF ARC LISTENING TO VOICES) signed: ALFRED BOUCHER and inscribed: Susse F res Ed rs / Paris with the SUSSE FRERES EDITEURS pastille and with another partially legible pastille inscribed: SYNDICAT ... FABRI [?] ... BRONZES ... 1878 [?] / UNIS / FRANCE [?] bronze, warm and golden brown patina, with green highlights 54cm., 21¼in.

LOT 84 OTHER PROPERTIES - ALFRED BOUCHER FRENCH, 1850 - 1934 DIANE SURPRISE (DIANA) 8,000—12,000 GBP measurements measurements note 87cm., 34¼in. Description signed: A. BOUCHER, inscribed: F. Goldscheider. Fondeur. Edit r and stamped CA bronze, dark brown patina LITERATURE AND REFERENCES A marble version of Boucher's Diane Surprise appeared at the Salon of 1894. The goddess, preparing to bathe, is surprised by an intruder and reaches for the bow and arrow concealed behind the rock. Stripped of her traditional attributes of a crescent moon and hounds, and with the bow and quiver only suggested in the modelling, Boucher's Diane is a very contemporary goddess, a frank and natural nude. RELATED LITERATURE J. Piette, Alfred Boucher 1850 - 1934 "sculpteur-humaniste", ex. cat. Musée Paul Dubois - Alfred Boucher, St André-les-Vergers, 2000, p. 49, no. 42

measurements note marble: 37.5cm., 14¾in. base: 10cm., 4in. DESCRIPTION A. BOUCHER white marble, on associated wood base CATALOGUE NOTE Alfred Boucher is best recognized for his high relief sculptureof beautiful female forms emerging out of rough-hewn marbles. Hissculpture anthropomorphizes the story of Pygmalion, the sculptorwho realizes his ideal woman out of stone. Likewise Boucher wasadept at executing portraits and civic monuments. As a realist,academic sculptor deeply concerned with the rights of the worker,Boucher's work exudes his empathy for the human condition. Boucher was born to a family of modest background. His artistictalent was recognized at an early age. At nineteen he attended theEcole des Beaux Arts in Paris and trained under the sculptor PaulDubois(1829-1905). Due to the generosity of his master, he studiedancient and renaissance art in Italy. His time in Rome defined himas a sculptor. In 1891 a critic commented, "there is ancient inhim, there is Michelangelo in him." Following his sojourn, he wonthe Grand Prix at the Paris Salon in 1881 and 1900. Throughout his career, Boucher received commissions for officialportraits of politicians, artists, scientists, doctors and royalsand for civic projects for municipalities in France. He amassedwealth but never forgot his humble beginnings. Boucher establishedlow-rent studio space for struggling artists in Paris designed byGustave Eiffel called La Rotonde or La Ruche. The fathers ofmodernism, Archipenko, Soutine, Lipchitz, Chagall, Modigliani,Idenbaum, Claudel and among others benefited from his generosity.And in 1902 Boucher created the municipal museum ofNogent-sur-Seine that bears his name as well as that of his master,Dubois. To this day, it remains the most thorough survey ofBoucher's sculpture. In this seductive three-quarter relief, Boucher explores the sexualnuances of representing the soft and supple skin of the female formagainst the harsh and rough rock. Although compositionally similarto Boucher's bust of Volubilis (lot 90), the physiogamy ofDiane differs. She is derived from his Diane surprise , whichwas exhibited at the Salon of 1894. RELATED LITERATURE Alfred Boucher 1850-1934, p. 50, cat. no. 43

* BOUCHER, A. (Alfred Boucher, Bouy-sur-Orvin 1850-1934 Aix-les-Bains), France circa 1890. Burnished bronze figure of Diana with bow and hunting dog. Signed A. BOUCHER and F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR PARIS. H 55 cm. Provenance: from a German collection . CHF 8 000.- / 14 000.- ? 4 910.- / 8 590.-