l'Histoire Bronze Sculpture After Alfred Boucher (1850-1934)

Our beautiful figure in the Art Nouveau fashion after Alfred Boucher (1850-1934), was finely cast and patinated, and mounted on variegated green marble.  Signed in the cast, A. Boucher.  Measures 26.5 x 13.75 x 6.5 inches. In good condition. There are small chip losses at the corners of the marble. 

This work is a variation on a life-size bronze figure on the marble tomb of Auguste Burdeau (1851-1894) at the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Boucher also sculpted this subject in marble in sizes comparable to our bronze.

According to Sotheby's, Boucher was the son of a farmhand and worked as a gardener for the sculptor, Joseph-Marius Ramus. On discovering Boucher’s natural talent for sculpting, Ramus granted Boucher use of his studio. Boucher went on to encourage and mentor young sculptors, including Laure Coutan and Camille Claudel, and founded the studio, La Ruche, for young artists. At l’Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris he studied under Paul Dubois, Antoine Dumont and Marius Ramus. A the Exposition Universelle he won the Grand Prix in 1881 and 1900.

Literature: P. Kjellberg, Bronzes of the 19th Century: Dictionary of Sculptors, London, 1994, pp. 118-120; J. Piette, Alfred Boucher, 1850-1934, L'oeuvre sculpté Catalogue Raisonné, Paris, 2014, no. A59A-C