Portrait of Francois Boucher

Francois Boucher Painting Reproductions 6 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

Idyllic Landscape with Woman Fishing, 1761 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Idyllic Landscape with Woman Fishing 1761

Oil Painting
$1531
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-13229
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 47 x 66 cm
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana, USA

River Landscape with an Antique Temple, 1762 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

River Landscape with an Antique Temple 1762

Oil Painting
$1517
Canvas Print
$61.58
SKU: BFR-13230
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 58.5 x 72 cm
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain

River Landscape with Ruin and Bridge, 1762 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

River Landscape with Ruin and Bridge 1762

Oil Painting
$1464
Canvas Print
$61.30
SKU: BFR-13231
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 58.5 x 72 cm
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain

Pastoral Scene, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Pastoral Scene n.d.

Oil Painting
$1344
Canvas Print
$57.85
SKU: BFR-13232
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

A Seated Nude Girl, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

A Seated Nude Girl n.d.

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: BFR-13233
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Head of a Woman from Behind, c.1740 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Head of a Woman from Behind c.1740

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: BFR-13234
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Bacchus and Erigone, 1745 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Bacchus and Erigone 1745

Oil Painting
$2308
Canvas Print
$56.05
SKU: BFR-13235
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 99 x 134.5 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

Lovers in a Park, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Lovers in a Park n.d.

Oil Painting
$5555
Canvas Print
$63.24
SKU: BFR-13236
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 232.4 x 194.9 cm
Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, USA

Jupiter and Callisto, 1769 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Jupiter and Callisto 1769

Oil Painting
$2099
Canvas Print
$61.03
SKU: BFR-13237
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 160 x 129 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

The Muse Euterpe (A Reclining Nymph Playing the Flute with Putti), 1752 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Muse Euterpe (A Reclining Nymph Playing the ... 1752

Oil Painting
$1603
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-13238
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 97.8 x 129.8 cm
Private Collection

The Chinese Fishermen, c.1742 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Chinese Fishermen c.1742

Oil Painting
$2207
Canvas Print
$58.47
SKU: BFR-13239
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 41.5 x 56 cm
Musee des Beaux Arts, Besancon, France

Rest on the Flight in to Egypt, 1757 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Rest on the Flight in to Egypt 1757

Oil Painting
$2554
Canvas Print
$71.68
SKU: BFR-13240
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 139.5 x 148.5 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Hercules and Omphale, 1730s by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Hercules and Omphale 1730s

Oil Painting
$2846
Canvas Print
$60.89
SKU: BFR-13241
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 90 x 74 cm
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia

Sculpture, 1758 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Sculpture 1758

Oil Painting
$1322
Canvas Print
$59.64
SKU: BFR-13242
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Public Collection

The Modiste, c.1746 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Modiste c.1746

Oil Painting
$1735
Canvas Print
$62.55
SKU: BFR-13243
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 63 x 51.8 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

Young Lady Holding a Pug Dog, c.1745 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Young Lady Holding a Pug Dog c.1745

Oil Painting
$1344
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-13244
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 34.5 x 28.6 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Laundresses in a Landscape, 1760 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Laundresses in a Landscape 1760

Oil Painting
$1464
Canvas Print
$63.10
SKU: BFR-13245
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 50.3 x 61 cm
The Clark Art Institute, Massachusetts, USA

The Mill at Charenton, c.1756 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Mill at Charenton c.1756

Oil Painting
$1502
Canvas Print
$55.77
SKU: BFR-13246
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Rhea Sylvia Fleeing from the Wolf, 1756 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Rhea Sylvia Fleeing from the Wolf 1756

Oil Painting
$1385
Canvas Print
$67.53
SKU: BFR-13247
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Musee des Beaux Arts, Tours, France

The Muse Terpsichore, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Muse Terpsichore n.d.

Oil Painting
$1627
Canvas Print
$53.00
SKU: BFR-13248
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

The Rustic Bridge, c.1756 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Rustic Bridge c.1756

Oil Painting
$1490
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-13249
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Spring, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Spring n.d.

Oil Painting
$1358
Canvas Print
$60.20
SKU: BFR-13250
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Public Collection

Summer, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Summer n.d.

Oil Painting
$1445
Canvas Print
$59.50
SKU: BFR-13251
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Public Collection

Winter, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Winter n.d.

Oil Painting
$1517
Canvas Print
$59.92
SKU: BFR-13252
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Public Collection

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