Woman in profile, walking to the right, 1752

About the Work

The two large-scale drawings of elegantly dressed ladies (Obj. No. 1228 Z and 1229 Z) were conceived as companion pieces. Boucher made pointed use of the white and black chalk to lend the sumptuous garments plasticity and make the materiality of the heavy silks palpable. He modelled the ridges and valleys formed by the fabric and gave it a lustrous sheen. In these works, Boucher monumental- ized the ladies of Watteau’s fêtes galantes.