1870
Fusain et crayon sur papier
47 x 60 cm - 18 1/2 x 23 5/8 in.
Collection particulière
Dernière mise à jour : 2022-03-17 19:23:26
Référence : MSb-116
André Bazille - Collection particulière.
Paris, galerie Wildenstein, 1950, n° 63.
Sarraute, 1948, p. 161 - Daulte, Bazille et son temps, 1952, n° 34, p. 198 (repr.) - Daulte, Frédéric Bazille : Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, 1992, p. 82 (repr.) - Schulman, Frédéric Bazille : Catalogue raisonné, 1995, n° 28 des dessins, repr. p. 261 - Schulman, Frédéric Bazille : Catalogue raisonné numérique, 2022, n° 116.
There are about ten preparatory drawings for Ruth and Booz, of which, to our knowledge, five, more or less elaborate, represent Booz alone.
To these two drawings of Booz asleep, with his left hand supporting his head and his right hand resting on his chest, the final painting is remarkably faithful. From one to the other, Bazille makes only a few changes, notably in the position of Booz's head and in the folds of his dress. In the upper drawing, Booz's face is seen from three quarters, whereas in the lower one he is seen from the front.
Bazille added these comments in pencil: "The torso shorter, the legs longer". He certainly made as a reference the drawing of the lower one, where Booz is "cut in two" by the belt of his garment, which is not the case in the upper one. Hence Bazille's justified remark that this is a flaw and that he wants to correct it.
It should be noted that Booz in the upper drawing does not have this "defect" and that his balance is perfectly respected. Bazille, as we have already said about several drawings, is definitely playing with bad luck with the graphics of the hands. Finally, as in most of the preparatory drawings - except for the Study for Ruth and Booz - the landscape is still absent.
The number of studies and preparatory drawings for Ruth and Booz confirms in any case the importance of this project in Bazille's mind.
