About This Artwork

François Boucher
French, 1703-1770

A Study for Two Nymphs, c. 1749

Black chalk, with stumping and red chalk, heightened with white chalk, on buff laid paper, laid down on cream laid card
321 x 450 mm
Helen Regenstein Collection, 1967.231

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

New York, Wildenstein & Co., "French 18th Century Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings from the David-Weill Collection," November-December 1938, cat. 53.

New York, Slatkin Gallery, "François Boucher: an exhibition of prints and drawings," January 28-February 23, 1957, no. 66.

Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1964.

Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, "François Boucher in North American Collections: 100 Drawings," December 22, 1973-March 15, 1974, cat. 66; also traveled to The Art Institute of Chicago, April 1-May 20, 1974.

The Art Institute of Chicago, "The Helen Regenstein Collection of European Drawings," 1974, pp. 70-71, cat. 34 (ill.), cat. by Harold Joachim.

The Art Institute of Chicago, "Selected Works of 18th Century French Art in the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago," January 24-March 28, 1976, pp. 54-55, cat. 43 (ill.).

The Art Institute of Chicago, "Great Drawings from The Art Institute of Chicago: The Harold Joachim Years 1958-1983," July 24-September 30, 1985, pp. 96-97, cat. 40 (ill.), cat. by Martha Tedeschi; traveled to The St. Louis Art Museum, March 10-May 16, 1986. (ill.).

Publication History

André Michel, François Boucher (Paris, 1906), no. 82.

Société de Reproduction de Dessins de Maîtres (Paris, 1913), no. 3 (ill.).

Gabriel Henriot, "La Collection David Weill," L'Amour de l'Art 6 (January 1925), pp. 1-23.

Gabriel Henriot, La Collection David-Weill, 3 (1928), pp. 29-31 (ill.).

B. Lossky, "L'Apollon et Isse dans l'oeuvre de François Boucher," Gazette de Beaux-Arts (November 1954), pp. 237-242 (ill.).

Harold Joachim, French Drawings and Sketchbooks of the 18th Century (Chicago, 1977), no. 1A11.

Ownership History

David-Weill (died 1952), Paris, from 1913-at least 1938 [according to Henriot 1925 and Société de Reproduction de Dessins de Maítres 1913; New York 1938]. Georges Wildenstein (died 1963), by 1954 [according to Lossky 1954]. John Goelet (?) [according to invoice in curatorial file]. Barbara Hutton (died 1977) [according to invoice]. Sold, Sotheby's, London, July 8, 1964, "Important Master Drawings," lot 89, to Mrs. Slatkin; sold by Charles E. Slatkin Gallery, New York, to the Art Institute, 1967.