Design for a Clock

Date1765

MediumBlack chalk, gray wash, heightened with white on buff paper

Credit LineGift of the Kramarsky Family

Dimensions13 3/4 x 15 7/8 in. (34.9 x 40.3 cm)

Object number1998.007

Label TextBoucher had a tremendous impact on the Rococo visual culture of eighteenth century France. He worked in almost every medium, and his designs were widely reproduced. This witty clock design, signed and dated at the base, is meant to delight the viewer. Above the clock face, two cupids have taken control of Time's sickle, denying him his power. Two female nudes in identical poses, one facing the viewer and one turned away, support the clock, and give the design harmonious equilibrium and erotic appeal. Three other clock designs by Boucher are known, including one for Madame de Pompadour's brother, the Marquis de Marigny.
Exhibition HistoryThe Eighteenth Century Art of France and England, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, April 27 - May 31, 1950
Francois Boucher: An Exhibition of Prints and Drawings, Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, New York, New York, January 28 - February 23, 1957
De Clouet a Matisse Dessins francais des Collections Americaines, Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris, France, 1958-1959
Francois Boucher in North American Collections: 100 Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, December 23, 1973 - March 17, 1974
Francois Boucher in North American Collections: 100 Drawings, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, April 4 - May 12, 1974
Francois Boucher: A Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of The New York Botanical Garden, Wildenstein and Company, New York, New York, November 12 - December 19, 1980
Francois Boucher, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, April 24 - June 23, 1982
Francois Boucher, Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, Kumamoto, Japan, July 3 - August 22, 1982
Recent Acquisitions of Old Masters: Durer to Delacroix, Michael C. Carlos Museum, October 6, 2001 - January 28, 2002
Published ReferencesPossibly Catalogue Raisonne des Tableaux, qui Composent le Cabinet de feu M. Boucher (Paris: Chez Musier, 18 Fevrier 1771), 64, number 406.
Catalogue des Tableaux et Dessins Precieux qui Composent le Cabinet de M. de Sireul (Paris: Hotel Bullion, 3 Decembre 1781), 43, number 177.
Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, L'Art francais due XVIIIe siecle, 3rd Edition, Volume I (Paris: 1880), 206.
Andre Michel, Francois Boucher (Paris: H. Piazza, 1906), 141, number 2558.
The Eighteenth Century Art of France and England (Montreal: The Museum, 1950), 15, number 66.
Francois Boucher: An Exhibition of Prints and Drawings (New York: Charles E. Slatkin, 1957), number 42, plate XXVIII.
Musee de l'Orangerie, De Clouet a Matisse: dessins francais des collections americaines (Paris: Presses artistiques, 1958), number 36, plate 51.
Alexandre Ananoff, L'oeuvre dessine de Francois Boucher (Paris: F. de Nobele, 1966), 252-52, number 978.
Regina Shoolman Slatkin, Francois Boucher in North American Collections: 100 Drawings (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1973), 113-14, number 86, figure 45.
Denys Sutton, Francois Boucher (New York: Wildenstein, 1980), 51, number 61, figure 62.
Denys Sutton, Francois Boucher (Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1982), number 115.

ProvenancePossibly with Chez Musier, Pere, Libraire, Quai des Augustins, Paris, 18 February 1771, number 406. Ex coll. Jean Claude Gaspard de Sireul (died 1781), France. Hotel de Bullion, Paris, 3 December 1781, number 177. Ex coll. Nathaniel Meyer de Rothschild (1836-1905), Vienna, Austria, from 19th Century. By descent to Alphonse Meyer de Rothschild (1878-1942), Vienna, Austria. Ex coll. Siegfried (1893-1961) and Lola (1896-1991) Kramarsky, New York, New York, from at least 1950. Thence by descent.

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Not on view

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