François BOUCHER Paris, 1703 - 1770 Study of nymphs Black pencil (Insolate) Study of nymphs, black pencil, by F. Boucher 15 x 18,50 cm (5,91 x 7,28 in.) Provenance: Private collection, Paris Comment: This charming drawing of four nymphs bathing is evidence of François Boucher's preparatory work. Here the painter is experimenting with different combinations of female nudes, no doubt with a view to incorporating these motifs into a more developed painted composition. This sheet can be compared with another study of nymphs in the Lord Rothschild collection at Waddesdon Manor (inv. no. 713.1995). Although no painting by Boucher can be directly linked to this drawing, the figure on the right is, according to Alastair Laing, reminiscent of one of the female figures accompanying Venus in the Louvre painting 'Venus disarming Love' of 1749 (inv. no.: RF 289; Alexandre Ananoff & Daniel Wildenstein, 'François Boucher' tome II, Lausanne-Paris, 1976, pp. 29-30, no. 331). The description given by Louis Gillet in 1929 (La peinture au Musée du Louvre: Ecole française XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1929, p. 56, quoted by Alexandre Ananoff and Daniel Wildenstein), which is particularly tasty, could also relate to our drawing: "... I can only find one word, a salmis de femmes. This tangle, this pâté, this charlotte of bellies, arms, throats, legs, freshness; this group of three heads, of which we can only see one end of each body, enough to compose a complete figure (...)". Alastair Laing suggests that this sheet dates from the same period as the painting in the Louvre, at a time when the master was making his drawings for his own preparatory work, as genuine studies that were not intended for sale. We would like to thank Mr Alastair Laing for kindly confirming the authenticity of this drawing from a photograph taken on 26 December 2023 and for his help in drafting this notice.