Artist of the day, January 15: François Boucher, French painter

François Boucher (1703 – 1770) was born in Paris, the son of a lace designer Nicolas Boucher, he was perhaps the most celebrated decorative artist of the 18th century, with most of his work reflecting the Rococo style. At the young age of 17, Boucher was apprenticed by his father to François Lemoyne, however after only 3 months he went to work for the engraver Jean-François Cars. Within 3 years Boucher had already won the elite Grand Prix de Rome, although he did not take up the consequential opportunity to study in Italy until 4 years later. On his return from studying in Italy, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture as a historical painter, and became a faculty member in 1734.

His career accelerated from this point, as he advanced from professor to Rector of the Academy, becoming head of the Royal Gobelin factory in 1755 and finally Premier Peintre du Roi (First Painter of the King) in 1765.

Boucher's early work celebrates the idyllic and tranquil, portraying nature and landscape with great elan. However, his art typically forgoes traditional rural innocence to portray scenes with a definitive style of eroticism, and his mythological scenes are passionate and amorous rather than traditionally epic. Marquise de Pompadour (mistress of King Louis XV), whose name became synonymous with Rococo art, was a great fan of Boucher's, and it is particularly in his portraits of her that this style is clearly exemplified.

Along with his painting, Boucher also designed theatre costumes and sets, and the ardent intrigues of the comic operas of Favart (1710-1792) closely parallel his own style of painting. Tapestry design was also an interest and major activity of his, together with his design activities for the opera and the royal palaces of Versailles, Fontainebleau and Choisy. His designs for all of the aforementioned augmented his earlier reputation, resulting in many engravings from his work and even reproduction of his themes onto porcelain and biscuit-ware at the Vincennes and Sevres factories.

François Boucher died on May 30, 1770 in Paris, France. His name, along with that of his patron Madame de Pompadour, had become synonymous with the French Rococo style, leading the Goncourt brothers to write: "Boucher is one of those men who represent the taste of a century, who express, personify and embody it."

1720, Auto-portrait à son studio

1721-64, Sketch du Portrait de Madame de Pompadour

1730-33, Putti et les oiseaux

1733, Le Déjeuner

1734, Imaginary Landscape with the Palatine Hill

1734, Rinaldo et Armida

1740, La naissance et le triomphe de Vénus

1740, Paysage près de Beauvais

1741, La traversée du pont

1742, Chinoiserie

1742, Diane sortant du bain

1742, La toilette

1742, Léda et le cygne

1745, L'Odalisque Brune

1745, La compagne de Diane

1746, La Modiste

1747, The Abduction of Europa

1748, Arion sur le Dauphin

1748, The Bird Catchers

1749, Pastorale d'Automne

1749, Earth - Vertumnus et Pomona

1749, La leçon de musique

1749, La petite Jardinière

1750, Le Sommeil interrompu

1750, Standing Nude Girl

1751,  Mercure confiant l'enfant Bacchus aux Nymphes de Nysa

1751, La Toilette de Venus

1751, Le pont

1751, Venus Consolant l'Amour

1752, Portrait de Marie-Louise O'Murphy

1753, La levée du soleil

1754, La Lettre d'amour

1755, Les quatre saisons: l'Été

1755, Les quatre saisons: l'Automne

1755, Les quatre saisons: le Printemps

1755, Les quatre saisons: l'Hiver

1756, Portrait de Madame de Pompadour

1757, Vulcain présentant Venus

1758, La Cible D'amour

1758, Le moulin à Charenton

1758, Dovecote

1759, Diana et Callisto

1759, Pan et Syrinx

1760, Jeune femme au bouquet

1761, Les génies des arts

1762, la jardinière endormie

1762, Paysage fluvial avec temple antique

1764, Allégorie de la musique

1765, Allégorie de la painture

1765, Le vendeur de légumes

1767, La Pastorale

1767, Le message secret

1769, Borée enlevant Orithye

1776, Madame Bergeret

1776, Saint Pierre invité à marcher sur les eaux