Francois Boucher

François Boucher

For other uses, see Boucher (disambiguation)

François Boucher (September 29 1703 – May 30 1770) had an unparalleled career as a was a French painter. His versatility in the popular style of Rococo, led to great works that were consistently classical in subject and skill. His work was characterized by several themes and subjects, including pastoral occupations, such as coquettish milkmaids, allegorical paintings featuring voluptuous beauties, and classical themes including cupids and countryside. His work is a true reflection of eighteenth century France at its pinnacle.

Boucher also completed several commissions for his patroness, the illustrious Madame de Pompadour. His amazing talent with the paint brush gave the world works of art that are perfect in every aspect, including history, mythology, portraiture, landscape, still life, and ordinary life events.

Early Life and Education

Marie-Louise O'Murphy c. 1752

François Boucher was born in Paris to a family of little means. His father, Nicholas Boucher, was a painter specializing in embroidery designs. These humble beginnings did not allow Boucher to receive any formal education as a young man. Instead, he received what knowledge he had from working under his father, helping with the family business.

When Boucher turned 17, he became an apprentice to François Lemoyne for a period of three months. After that time,t he money ran out, and Boucher was forced to employment. He went to work forJean-François Cars, who was an engraver. It was under Cars that Boucher learned and perfected his skills as an engraver. Within three years, at the young age of twenty, Boucher distinguished himself as a serious artist. He won the elite Grand Prix de Rome. The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for art students at the time. The various artists were required to prove their talents by completing a rigorous elimination process. The grand prize winner would receive a stay at the Mancini Palace in Rome, all expenses paid by the King of France. The contest was organized by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Although Boucher was announced the winner of the prize, he declined going to Italy to study until four years later because he received a commission from the honored painter Jean-Antoine Watteau.

Watteau commissioned Boucher to serve as engraver of several of Watteau's paintings. This experience taught Boucher several lessons. First, he gained exposure to the intricate delicacies of Watteau's famed style. He also began forming a reputation around Paris as an artist trusted by Watteau, thus credibility and respect ensued. Finally, the commission provided Boucher with the funds he needed to be able to live and study in Italy.

Boucher left for Italy in 1727 and stayed there for four years. His previous training as an engraver, and the skills he acquired as a draftsman under Jean Francois Cars proved to be a solid foundation, to which he added upon during his studies in Italy. He learned the technique of the master artists, while also studying history, mythology, and the classics. Boucher returned to Paris in 1731 and entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture as a historical painter. In just three short years, Boucher left the role of student and became one of the members of the prestigious faculty.

Artistic Career

The Toilet of Venus (1751) typifies the superficially pleasing elegance of Boucher's mature style.

After being named a member of the faculty at the Academy, Boucher's career advanced as he was promoted from professor to the Rector of the Academy, becoming head of the Royal Gobelin factory in 1755. After this immense recognition, Boucher reached the pinnacle of any artist career at the time when he was named the Premier Peintre du Roi (First Painter of the King) in 1765.

By far, Boucher's biggest fan was that of Madame de Pompadour (mistress of King Louis XV. She adored his drawings, paintings, and especially the portraits he created of her. During the course of their acquaintance, Boucher painted over seven portraits of Madame Pompadour.

Pompadour was not Boucher's only rich person who commissioned Boucher to paint. It is well noted that several of his private commissions caused much speculation, as well as ridicule and disapproval of his person. His reputation came under attack again and again from fellow painter Diderot, who claimed that Boucher used his wife as a model for the dark-haired nude in Boucher's painting, Odalisque. Diderot stated that Boucher was "prostituting his own wife." He then went of to venture that the woman in the painting Blonde Odalisque was a detailed portrait of the extra-marital relationships of the King.

Boucher's style was at times a bit licentious and risque, but these paintings merely reflected his patrons' commissions. Much of his early work is celebration of the tranquil and idyllic life of the country, showing innocent rural landscapes and simplistic situations. One such intimate family scene is depicted in The Breakfast (1739). Here a simple family is shown, and Boucher often used his wife and children as his models. Boucher held that two of his biggest inspirations were the artists Watteau and Rubens.

Boucher's artistic talents were many. In addition to his paintings, Boucher participated in designing costumes and sets for several Parisian theaters. He loved designing the comic operas of Favart (1710-1792), and the sets were easily recognizable as his. His whimsical, signature style was clear in all he did. Boucher also tried his hand in designing tapestries. He created pieces for the royal palaces of Versailles, Fontainebleau and Choisy. His designs were successful and sought after. Many of his paintings were made into engravings and reproduced on canvases, porcelain and biscuit-ware at the Vincennes and Sèvres factories.

Death

Boucher's work earned the criticism of many when the French Revolution erupted in France. During the war people scorned the pretty and unrealistic portrayals of life that Boucher was known for. But, like his former student Jean-Honore Fragonard, Boucher refused to conform to the new ideals in painting and kept working as he had always done up until his death. On May 30, 1770, Francois Boucher died in Paris. His lifelong devotion to painting in the French Rococo style gained him the fame of being the top artist in that genre. Upon his death the Goncourt brothers were inspired to write: "Boucher is one of those men who represent the taste of a century, who express, personify and embody it."

Works include

The Breakfast (1739).

• Web Gallery of Art

• Rinaldo and Armida (Louvre Museum)
• The Rest on the Flight to Egypt
• The Leda and the Swan
• La Toilette
• Diana Leaving her Bath
• The Companions of Diana
• Diana Returns from the Hunt
• Bachantes
• Interrupted Sleep
• Portrait of Marie-Louise O'Murphy (Alte Pinakothek)
• Autumn
• Putti with Birds (L'Amour Oiseleur), ca. 1731-33 Honolulu Academy of Arts
• The Visit of Venus to Vulcan
• Christ and John the Baptist as Children
• Pastorale
• Naiads and Triton
• Triumph of Venus
• Venus Consoling Love

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Hedley, Jo, and François Boucher. 2004. François Boucher: Seductive Visions. London: Wallace Collection. ISBN 0900785721
• Laing, Alastair, François Boucher, and Pierre Rosenberg. 2003. The Drawings of François Boucher. New York, N.Y.: American Federation of Arts in association with Scala Publishers. ISBN 1857592980
• Wakefield, David. 2005. Boucher. London: Chaucer. ISBN 1904449352
• Hyde, Melissa Lee, and Mark Ledbury. 2006. Rethinking Boucher. Issues & debates, 15. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute. ISBN 089236825X
• Hyde, Melissa Lee, and François Boucher. 2006. Making up the Rococo: François Boucher and His Critics. Texts & documents. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute. ISBN 0892367431
• Boucher, François. 1986. François Boucher, 1703-1770: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, February 17, 1986-May 4, 1986, the Detroit Institute of Arts, May 27-August 17, 1986, Reunion des musées nationaux, Grand Palais, Paris, September 19, 1986-January 5, 1987. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0810907437

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