François Boucher (1703-1770), The Young Girl In Front Of A Rustic House

François BOUCHER (1703-1770) The young girl in front of a rustic house preceded by an external staircase pencil on paper, 22.2 x 16.9 cm Signed lower left Provenance: - 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 made 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) kept at the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon. A second version of the composition, also by Boucher, is now preserved at the Louvre Museum in Paris. This 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 characters animating the scene, and a greater richness in the architectural details. Both of Boucher's drawings can be considered true reinterpretations. On Saftleven's sheet, the young woman on the balcony is conversing with a young man, while in our work by Boucher, she appears alone, contemplating the stairs. Saftleven's barred window was also transformed by Boucher into an alcove decorated with a flowerpot, accentuating the intimate and bucolic character of the scene. Finally, a variation on the same subject, made in 1774 by Robert HUBERT (1733-1808) and preserved at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, is part of this tradition while reflecting his distinctive style.