Paris 1703–1770), workshop of
Two pastoral scenes “en camaieu”, oil on canvas, each 76 x 70 cm, framed,

Provenance: Collection Rochaz, Paris; Sale, Soullie & Masson, Paris, 11 Feb. 1856, lot 1442; Count Andrzej (Vandalin) Mniszech, Paris; Countess Marie Zichy of Zich and Vasonykeö, née Countess Demblin, Marquise de Ville (since 1857); Countess Clara Keglevich de Buzin, née Countess Zichy of Zich and Vasonykeö, Sao Paulo (1956); Private Collection, Berlin.

We are grateful to Mr. Alastair Laing for his kind assistance in cataloguing the present paintings.

 
These two paintings, once owned by important members of the aristocracy, are highly elegant and colouristically charming works that radiate the slightly frivolous spirit of the French Rococo. In their combination of pretended naturalness and stimulating coquetry, they provide an excellent example of the taste prevailing at the court of Queen Marie Antoinette, a taste that also manifested itself in architecture, such as in the two Trianons in the park of Versailles. Our paintings relate to two oval compositions by Boucher from 1761 ( see A. Ananoff and D. Wildenstein, L’Opera Completa di Boucher, Milan 1980, no. 571, Wallace Collection, London, no. 572, private collection, London).