Beschreibung:

Details
FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (PARIS 1703-1770)
Le repas de chasse
huile sur toile, sur sa toile d'origine, manques
51 x 41 cm. (201⁄8 x 161⁄8 in.)
Provenance
Collection Rita Espirito Santo Silva (1927-2020) ; sa vente, Christie's, Londres, 21 juin-12 juillet 2021, lot 34.Post Lot Text
FRANÇOIS BOUCHER, THE REST ON THE HUNT, OIL ON CANVAS, UNLINED, LOSSES
This small, sketch-like painting is executed in the handling characteristic of Boucher's (1703-1770) oil sketches from the 1730s. The composition has long been known through three nearly identical versions of similar dimensions, all of which appear to be autograph. These include a canvas in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (inv. no. CAM 441.1), a version in a private collection that was exhibited in a Boucher retrospective at Galerie Cailleux in Paris in 1964, and a version sold on June 2 2020, Christie’s, New York lot 42. In 2013, a fourth, slightly larger example was preempted by the Musée du Louvre shortly before its sale at auction in Paris.
After first-hand inspection of the present painting in 2021, Françoise Joulie confirmed the attribution to Boucher. On inspection of a photographic reproduction, Alastair Laing suggested that the attribution could be to François Boucher and Studio. At this early stage in his career, Boucher was himself painting replicas of his pictures, not necessarily – particularly with small ones – with the assistance of his studio; however, the partial presence of a studio hand cannot be completely discounted.
We are grateful to both Alastair Laing and Françoise Joulie for all of their help in cataloguing the present painting.Special notice
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