Alfred Boucher: The delicacy of marble

Alfred Boucher (1850-1934), Volubilis, Camille Claudel Museum (Nogent-sur-Seine), circa 1897, H. 120; W. 83; D. 55 cm.

Written by: Ariane Schlemmer

In Le Quotidien of August 22, 1934, the journalist in charge of the article in memory of the sculptor Alfred Boucher, who had died four days earlier, painted a rather harsh retrospective portrait of the artist, writing that he was "one of our good second-rate sculptors, master of a good craft in which he did not innovate." This criticism perfectly illustrates the idea that the history of sculpture seems to have formed of this artist: a "beautiful hand," capable of treating very diverse subjects, in multiple formats, but offering nothing other than conventional forms.

Alfred Boucher was born on September 23, 1850, in Bouy-sur-Orvin in the Aube department, into a modest family of farmworker parents. In 1859, the Boucher family moved to Nogent-sur-Seine, a small town about ten kilometers from Bouy, where his father was hired as a gardener for the estate of sculptor Marius Ramus. Ramus quickly noticed the young Alfred Boucher's interest in sculpture and offered him the opportunity to train in this discipline. Convinced of his young student's talent, he decided to introduce him to the most popular sculptor born in Nogent at the time, Paul Dubois. Considered the leader of the "neo-Florentines," it was thanks to his support, as well as that of political figures in the sector, that Alfred Boucher was able to enter the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1871.

After classical training and two stays in Italy, Boucher achieved several successes at the Salon, which opened the way to state commissions, but also popularity among a bourgeois clientele who liked to collect his published works. With this reputation, the artist acquired a sufficiently large fortune that, in 1902, he was able to found two important institutions: the Ruche des Arts, an artists' city in the heart of the Montparnasse district that welcomed young, penniless talents from all over Europe (and is still active today in the 15th arrondissement of Paris); and the Musée Dubois-Boucher in Nogent-sur-Seine, to which he donated a large part of his collection. After the First World War, the sculptor remained active, although in a slightly withdrawn manner. He devoted himself to experimenting with new techniques such as iron cement, which he reserved mainly for his war memorials, which now represent the majority of his commissions, or even painting, which he had practiced when he was younger, but which he clearly never considered anything other than a secondary activity.

However, despite his prolific output, contemporary historiography has only marginally recognized Alfred Boucher's work. He is remembered more for his role as an intermediary in the meeting between Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin, or for the creation of La Ruche; he is one of those sculptors acclaimed by the Third Republic, whose work has been passed over in silence in light of the way in which the 20th century constructed the notion of modernity. Despite being crowned with success, both at the Salon, rewarded with numerous prizes, and by some major commercial successes with a bourgeois clientele, Boucher is a sculptor who has left his mark on historiography more through his generous character than through his nevertheless very diverse sculpted work.

From now on, I would like to present to you one of my favorite works by Alfred Boucher. The artist is inspired here by a poem by René François Sully Prud'homme taken from his collection Les Solitudes . The posture of the young woman comes from a first work created by Boucher to adorn the tomb of Ferdinand Barbedienne in the Père Lachaise cemetery (it is located in division n°53 for curious taphophiles!) where the young woman carries a dying death torch, symbolizing the pain at the death of the deceased. Here, Boucher replaces this attribute with a morning glories flower, signifying sometimes a devoted friendship, sometimes the risks of an overly easy affair and more broadly an erotic symbolism (the morning glories flower only opens at night), which is reinforced by the languid posture of the young woman discovered, although this eroticism always remains contained in Boucher's work. The artist, having achieved great success with these elegant and lightly sensual compositions, decided to use his model in a variety of compositions: high reliefs with a more or less truncated bust largely inspired by the non finito treatments of Auguste Rodin, or in different techniques (Müller sandstone and Barbedienne bronze). His works The Wounded Swallow and The Bather are also part of this body of work. We can almost speak of a "Boucher signature" for these female figures with their heads tilted to the left!

The subtlety of the work lies in the harmony of the forms, the finesse of the drapery which becomes almost truly fluid and the general softness which emerges from the composition.

The large Volubilis marble is a recent acquisition by the Camille Claudel Museum in Nogent-sur-Seine, heir to the museum that Alfred Boucher created in 1902. Don't wait any longer to visit this magnificent museum entirely dedicated to 19th-century sculpture!

Bibliography:

• Piette, Jacques, Alfred Boucher: 1850-1934: the sculpted work, catalogue raisonné, Paris, Mare & Martin, Paris, 2014, 471p.
• Rionnet, Florence, Les Bronzes Barbedienne: the work of a dynasty of founders, 1834-1954, doctoral thesis (La Sorbonne – Paris IV, 2006), Paris, Arthena, 2016, 571p.
• Alfred Boucher, 1850-1934: “humanist sculptor” [exhibition cat. Nogent-sur-Seine, Dubois Boucher Museum, May 27 – October 29, 2000], Nogent-sur-Seine, Dubois-Boucher Museum, 2000, 96p.
• Schlemmer, Ariane, The work of Alfred Boucher (1850-1934) in Nogent-sur-Seine: the hour of glory of an official sculptor of the Third Republic, Master 1 thesis, Ecole du Louvre, June 2024 (available in September 2025)