From Paris to Salt Lake to Christie's

"Les Amoureux Jeunes (The Young Lovers)" by Francois Boucher (1703-70), once an important part of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts collection, will be auctioned off at Christie's in New York Thursday.

Boucher's painting, a Rococo piece that was painted when the artist was at the height of his powers, was recently discovered to be one of many works of art stolen by Nazis in 1938 from Andre Seligmann in Paris.

After learning of the painting's status, the UMFA returned it to the rightful owners during a special presentation in April.

Asked whether the UMFA will make a bid to get the painting back, David Carroll, director of collections for the museum, said, "As an institution we're not in the financial position to pursue it, and insofar as I know, no one is planning on bidding on it in our behalf. . . . We're not pursuing getting it back. I wish it were otherwise."

Carroll said the museum made some early inquiries concerning a private sale of the piece back to the museum, but the division of ownership made this difficult.

"It's a nice painting," Carroll said, "even for Boucher. It has more vitality and spontaneity than a lot of other paintings by Boucher that I've seen."

Estimated to be worth between $200,000 and $300,000, the proceeds from any sale of "Les Jeunes Amoureux" will be divided between Seligmann's oldest daughter, Mrs. Claude Seligmann Delibes, and the surviving widow of his only son, Mrs. Suzanne Geiss (Seligmann) Robbins.

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