François BOUCHER (1703-1770), La jeune fille devant une maison rustique

François BOUCHER (1703-1770)

The Young Girl in Front of a Rustic House with an Exterior Staircase

pencil on paper, 22.2 x 16.9 cm

Signed lower left

Provenances :

- Henry Oppenheimer (1859-1932), London; Christie’s, London, 10-14 July 1936, lot 414.
- Joseph Gruss (1903-1993), New York.
- Christie’s, New York, 12 January, 1995, lot 99.

Boucher produced this drawing in the 1740s, a period marked by his keen interest in Nordic painters. According to Françoise Joulie, in her book Boucher et les peintres du Nord, this work was inspired by a drawing by Cornelis SAFTLEVEN (1607-1681) in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon.
A second version of the composition, also by Boucher, is now in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The latter departs further from Saftleven's original model, adopting a style that fully reflects Boucher's stylistic identity: soft light that highlights the figures, objects scattered on the ground, the addition of several figures animating the scene, and greater richness in architectural detail.
Boucher's two drawings can be considered true reinterpretations. In Saftleven's sheet, the young woman on the balcony is conversing with a young man, whereas in our Boucher work, she appears alone, contemplating the stairs. Saftleven's barred window has also been transformed by Boucher into an alcove adorned with a pot of flowers, accentuating the intimate, bucolic character of the scene.
Finally, a variation on the same subject, created in 1774 by Robert HUBERT (1733-1808) and preserved at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, follows in this tradition while reflecting his distinctive style.