ALFRED BOUCHER (FRENCH, 1850-1934)

Capable of executing accurate portraits and academic monuments in bronze and marble and employed as a sculptor at Sèvres, Alfred Boucher often had an erotic edge to his work, as exemplified by the present nude. Stylistically, this work is in clear conversation with his contemporary Auguste Rodin and Boucher's pupil Camille Claudel. This sculpture speaks to his overarching stylistic tendencies across his oeuvre, with the rough surface of the stone in stark comparison to the incredibly smooth undulating texture of the body.
The organic ovoid form enwrapping her body, concretizes and reiterates the female womb contained within the subject herself. Any intonation of a maternal representation stops at the limits of the rough surface as Boucher instead chooses to create an explicitly sexual work. Her body is canted out towards the viewer with her sex on full display, while her head is averted to the rough surface behind her; the sculpture demands close inspection but invites voyeurism.