Portrait of Francois Boucher

Francois Boucher Painting Reproductions 2 of 8

1703-1770

French Rococo Painter

François Boucher (September 29, 1703 – May 30, 1770) was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, and several portraits of Madame de Pompadour.
Biography
Born in Paris, the son of decorator Nicolas Boucher, François Boucher 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 in 1731, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture as a historical painter, and became a faculty member in 1734.
His career moved upwards and onwards 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.
With much of his work reflecting inspiration gained from artists Watteau and Rubens, Boucher's early work celebrates the idyllic and tranquil, portraying nature and landscape with great élan. However, his work 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. Paintings such as The Breakfast of 1739, a family scene, also show Boucher as a master of the genre scene as he regularly used his own wife and family as models. These intimate family scenes are however in contrast to the licentious style in which he also painted, as seen in his Odalisque portraits. The dark-haired version of the Odalisque portraits prompted claims by Diderot that Boucher was "prostituting his own wife", and the Blonde Odalisque was a portrait that illustrated the extra-marital relationships of the King. Boucher gained lasting notoriety through such private commissions for wealthy collectors and, after the ever-moral Diderot expressed his disapproval, his reputation came under increasing critical attack during the last of his creative years.
Along with his painting, Boucher also designed theatre costumes and sets, and the ardent intrigues of the comic operas 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 design activities 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 Sèvres factories.
Francois Boucher died on May 30, 1770 in Paris, France. His name had become synonymous with the French Rococo style, along with that of his patron, Madame de Pompadour, 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."

177 Boucher Paintings

The Rising of the Sun, 1753 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Rising of the Sun 1753

Oil Painting
$3510
Canvas Print
$63.79
SKU: BFR-4067
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 318 x 261 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

The Setting of the Sun, 1752 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Setting of the Sun 1752

Oil Painting
$3710
Canvas Print
$62.83
SKU: BFR-4068
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 318 x 261 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

The Four Seasons: Spring, 1755 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Four Seasons: Spring 1755

Oil Painting
$2386
Canvas Print
$59.92
SKU: BFR-4069
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 54.3 x 72.7 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

The Four Seasons: Summer, 1755 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Four Seasons: Summer 1755

Oil Painting
$1727
Canvas Print
$59.50
SKU: BFR-4070
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 57.1 x 71 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

The Four Seasons: Autumn, 1755 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Four Seasons: Autumn 1755

Oil Painting
$1790
Canvas Print
$59.50
SKU: BFR-4071
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 56.5 x 73 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

The Four Seasons: Winter, 1755 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Four Seasons: Winter 1755

Oil Painting
$1893
Canvas Print
$59.92
SKU: BFR-4072
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 56.8 x 73 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

Poetry, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Poetry n.d.

Oil Painting
$1179
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-4073
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 40 x 32.7 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

Drawing, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Drawing n.d.

Oil Painting
$1179
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-4074
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 40 x 32.7 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

Girl with Roses, c.1760 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Girl with Roses c.1760

Oil Painting
$1238
Canvas Print
$50.81
SKU: BFR-4075
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 54.6 x 42.5 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

A Lady on Her Day Bed, 1743 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

A Lady on Her Day Bed 1743

Oil Painting
$1498
Canvas Print
$55.18
SKU: BFR-4076
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 57.2 x 68.3 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

The Milliner, 1746 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Milliner 1746

Oil Painting
$1749
SKU: BFR-4077
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

The Luncheon, 1739 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Luncheon 1739

Oil Painting
$1979
Canvas Print
$59.64
SKU: BFR-4078
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 81.5 x 65.5 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Portrait of Madame de Pompadour, 1758 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Madame de Pompadour 1758

Oil Painting
$2250
Canvas Print
$61.17
SKU: BFR-4079
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 72.4 x 57.8 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom

Pan and Syrinx, 1759 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Pan and Syrinx 1759

Oil Painting
$1047
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-4080
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 32.4 x 41.9 cm
National Gallery, London, United Kingdom

La Toilette, 1742 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

La Toilette 1742

Oil Painting
$1811
Canvas Print
$62.41
SKU: BFR-4081
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 52.5 x 66.5 cm
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain

Young Woman with a Bouquet of Roses, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Young Woman with a Bouquet of Roses n.d.

Oil Painting
$1342
SKU: BFR-4082
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Painter in his Studio, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Painter in his Studio n.d.

Oil Painting
$875
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-4083
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 27 x 22 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Le Joueur De Flageolet, 1766 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Le Joueur De Flageolet 1766

Oil Painting
$1685
SKU: BFR-4084
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, 1758 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour 1758

Oil Painting
$1790
Canvas Print
$60.20
SKU: BFR-5061
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 81.2 x 64.9 cm
Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA

The Odalisque, 1745 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Odalisque 1745

Oil Painting
$1378
Canvas Print
$58.82
SKU: BFR-7310
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 53 x 64 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Diana Resting after her Bath, 1742 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Diana Resting after her Bath 1742

Oil Painting
$1766
Canvas Print
$58.95
SKU: BFR-8202
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 56 x 73 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Madame de Pompadour, c.1758/59 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Madame de Pompadour c.1758/59

Oil Painting
$2214
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-8203
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 36.2 x 44.5 cm
National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Dreaming Shepherdess, c.1760/63 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Dreaming Shepherdess c.1760/63

Oil Painting
$1517
Canvas Print
$66.57
SKU: BFR-8204
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 56.9 x 46.5 cm
Museum ResidenzGalerie, Salzburg, Austria

Shepherd Piping to a Shepherdess, c.1747/50 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Shepherd Piping to a Shepherdess c.1747/50

Oil Painting
$2077
Canvas Print
$50.23
SKU: BFR-8484
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 94 x 142 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

Top