François Boucher - Study of a young man sitting three-quarter-length - sanguine on laid paper 15.6 x 11.7 cm The sheet depicts a young figure sitting three-quarter-length, with a slightly inclined torso and gathered legs. The layout is simple and straightforward, concentrating on the rendering of the posture and the drapery, left with a rapid and vaporous stroke. The face, barely outlined, and the soft sanguine mark, with variations in intensity and nuances, reveal the typical graphic manner of François Boucher, who made sanguine his preferred medium for figure studies.The drawing is closely compared with other autograph sheets by Boucher, such as A Boy Seated on a Stone, Turned to the Left (sanguine on virgin paper with watermark, 15.3 × 11.3 cm), formerly in a private collection and sold at auction (Koller, Zurich, 2008). Similarities can be found in the fluid use of sanguine, the modulation of the outline and above all in the naturalness of the pose, which recalls the type of studies intended for pastoral scenes and tapestry cartoons.Signed lower left.Within a coeval gilded wooden frame.