Product Description
Pierre Boucher, Propeller, Gelatin silver print, 1935
PIERRE BOUCHER (1908-2000) France
Propeller 1935
Signed: WB – 7252; Photo Pierre Boucher (ink stamp); DBoucher (ink signature)
Provenance: Gene Prakapas Gallery, New York, 1978.
H: 7 1/16” x W: 9 ¼” (unframed)
H: 14 11/16” x 16 11/16” (framed)
Pierre Boucher came to photography as a result of the Nouvelle Vision and he explored photography as an experiment on all levels, photograms, collages, solarization and superimposition. He had a natural curiosity and a cultivated and sporty demeanor that led him to produce work as diverse as surrealist nudes and well-constructed advertisements. Whether it be in documentary photography or industrial photography, Pierre Boucher always awakens an empathy and a feeling of closeness with his subjects in the spectator.
Pierre Boucher got his start in advertising, taking his inspiration from the graphic techniques of the modernists in the field and contributing to the transformation of the advertising photo into a work of art. He used photomontage to make his work more striking and effective, making unnerving and astonishing.
Boucher’s nudes, on the other hand, use no technical prowess whatsoever. After the war the movement for freedom of the body led him to reconsider social models. Pierre Boucher revisited the female and male nude from several angles. Around 1931, he did his first nude photos under the umbrella of the “ New Objectivity ” : the image was boxed, the frame strict, the bodies freed from their faces. From 1933 onwards his nudes became surrealist inspired by the work of Man Ray. He then moved on to neo-classical nudes. In studio or in natural light his Apollonian nude aimed above all for beauty and harmony.
Pierre Boucher, Propeller, Gelatin silver print, 1935
Eugene Fontenay (1823-1887) “Wisteria” brooch and fitted with original pendant attachment in 18k gold with extremely fine detailing, superb granulation and hanging pendant blossoms, marked: EF in a diamond poincon (the mark of Eugene Fontenay), French Eagle’s head touchmark for 18k gold (2x), c.1875
Length of pendant: 3 and 3/8 inches x width: 1 and ½ inches
Weight: .60 Troy ounce / 18.6 grams / 11.9 pennyweights
Matching French open wirework long necklace in 18k gold with fine detailing and delicate beadwork details, marked: TM in a diamond poincon (maker’s mark and possibly that of Michel Tricaud), French eagle’s head touchmark for 18k gold (3x), c.1875
Length: 58 inches long x width: 3/8 inches
Weight: 2.01 Troy ounces / 62.7 grams / 40.3 pennyweights
Pendant and necklace combined weight: 2.61 Troy ounces / 81.2 grams / 52.3 pennyweights
Nineteenth century French goldsmith Eugène Fontenay (1823-1887) was born into the profession, with a family name long known for their skills as goldsmiths. Fontenay opened his own studio in 1847 after apprenticing with Marchand and working for the Parisian jeweler Dutreih. Influenced by the archeological revival style of the period, a response to the Campana Collection of classical jewels, brought to France in 1861. Fontenay became an author as well, and published books including “Les Bijoux Anciens et Modernes” in 1887, after selling his workshop.