ALFRED BOUCHER (FRENCH, 1850-1934): A LARGE BRONZE FIGURAL GROUP 'AU BUT' (THE FINISHING LINE)

depicting three semi - nude male runners reaching for the finishing line, dark brown patination, on a naturalistic base signed 'A BOUCHER' raised on a Rouge Griotte marble plinth inscribed in to the marble 'AU BUT', Medaille d'or Salon 1886-87 Acquis par l'Etat' (acquired by the state),

50cm high x 67cm wide

A further cast of this size was sold at Sotheby's, 18 October 2018, lot 574, $20,000.

Boucher's Au But is one of his best-known models, it depicts three athletes in the last desperate moments of a race, each stretching a hand forward to touch the finishing line. Boucher exhibited the model for the first time at the Salon of 1886 and it proved an instant hit with critics and public alike. The sculpture was awarded a first class medal and as the plaquette afixed to the present example announces, the State purchased a life-size cast to be placed in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Related Literature: J. Piette, Alfred Boucher 1850-1934 "sculpteur – humaniste", exh. cat. Musée Paul Dubois – Alfred Boucher, Nogent-sur-Seine, 2000, no. 39a, p. 46; J. Piette, Alfred Boucher 1850-1934: L'oeuvre sculpté Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 2014, p. 217, no. A27