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."
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1720, Auto-portrait à son studio |
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1721-64, Sketch du Portrait de Madame de Pompadour |
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1730-33, Putti et les oiseaux |
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1733, Le Déjeuner |
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1734, Imaginary Landscape with the Palatine Hill |
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1734, Rinaldo et Armida |
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1740, La naissance et le triomphe de Vénus |
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1740, Paysage près de Beauvais |
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1741, La traversée du pont |
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1742, Chinoiserie |
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1742, Diane sortant du bain |
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1742, La toilette |
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1742, Léda et le cygne |
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1745, L'Odalisque Brune |
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1745, La compagne de Diane |
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1746, La Modiste |
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1747, The Abduction of Europa |
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1748, Arion sur le Dauphin |
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1748, The Bird Catchers |
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1749, Pastorale d'Automne |
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1749, Earth - Vertumnus et Pomona |
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1749, La leçon de musique |
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1749, La petite Jardinière |
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1750, Le Sommeil interrompu |
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1750, Standing Nude Girl |
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1751, Mercure confiant l'enfant Bacchus aux Nymphes de Nysa |
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1751, La Toilette de Venus |
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1751, Le pont |
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1751, Venus Consolant l'Amour |
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1752, Portrait de Marie-Louise O'Murphy |
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1753, La levée du soleil |
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1754, La Lettre d'amour |
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1755, Les quatre saisons: l'Été |
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1755, Les quatre saisons: l'Automne |
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1755, Les quatre saisons: le Printemps |
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1755, Les quatre saisons: l'Hiver |
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1756, Portrait de Madame de Pompadour |
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1757, Vulcain présentant Venus |
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1758, La Cible D'amour |
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1758, Le moulin à Charenton |
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1758, Dovecote |
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1759, Diana et Callisto |
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1759, Pan et Syrinx |
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1760, Jeune femme au bouquet |
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1761, Les génies des arts |
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1762, la jardinière endormie |
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1762, Paysage fluvial avec temple antique |
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1764, Allégorie de la musique |
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1765, Allégorie de la painture |
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1765, Le vendeur de légumes |
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1767, La Pastorale |
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1767, Le message secret |
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1769, Borée enlevant Orithye |
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1776, Madame Bergeret |
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1776, Saint Pierre invité à marcher sur les eaux |
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