François Boucher (Paris 1703-1770), A nude woman playing a flute, seen from behind

François Boucher (Paris 1703-1770)
A nude woman playing a flute, seen from behind
black, red and white chalk with pastel on blue paper
9 1/2 x 14 in. (24 x 36 cm)

Provenance

Paul de Cayeux de Sénarpont (1884-1964) and Galerie Cailleux, Paris, by descent;
Jean de Cayeux (1913-2009), Paris (L. 4461).
with Matthiesen Gallery, London.
Lord Thomson of Fleet (1923-2006).
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 14 April 1992, lot 161.

The Collection of James and Marilynn Alsdorf represents a notable achievement in the history of American connoisseurship. Steadily acquired throughout the latter half of the twentieth century by two of Chicago’s most important civic and cultural patrons, the Collection is unparalleled in its breadth and quality, illuminating the remarkable feats of human artistry across time and geography. For the Alsdorfs, collecting represented a unique opportunity for exploration, adventure, and the pursuit of beauty, extending from the art-filled rooms of their Chicago residence to distant continents and historic lands. The couple’s philosophy of collecting, as Marilynn Alsdorf explained, was simple yet profound: “We looked for objects,” she said, “to delight our eyes and souls….”
From the 1950s, the Alsdorfs were especially ardent patrons of the Art Institute of Chicago, gifting or lending hundreds of works to the museum commencing in the earliest days of their collecting. A longtime AIC trustee, Mrs. Alsdorf served for a time as president of the museum’s Women’s Board, while Mr. Alsdorf served as AIC chairman from 1975 to 1978. The couple’s decades of generosity toward the AIC would extend past Mr. Alsdorf’s death and into the twenty-first century. In 1997, Mrs. Alsdorf presented the AIC with some four hundred works of Southeast Asian art, a transformative bequest celebrated by the landmark exhibition A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection. Less than a decade later, Mrs. Alsdorf made yet another monumental gift when she supported the construction of the Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan, and Islamic Art.
James and Marilynn Alsdorf, Kenilworth Miami, 1950. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of consignor