Portrait of Francois Boucher

Francois Boucher Painting Reproductions 7 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

Venus and Cupid, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Venus and Cupid n.d.

Oil Painting
$1685
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-13253
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 93.5 x 163 cm
Private Collection

Pygmalion and Galatea, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Pygmalion and Galatea n.d.

Oil Painting
$2109
Canvas Print
$52.17
SKU: BFR-13254
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 230 x 329 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Angler, 1759 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Angler 1759

Oil Painting
$2830
Canvas Print
$63.38
SKU: BFR-13255
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 229.8 x 193 cm
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

The Sleeping Venus, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Sleeping Venus n.d.

Oil Painting
$1402
Canvas Print
$60.20
SKU: BFR-13256
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia

Maenad Playing the Pipe, c.1735/38 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Maenad Playing the Pipe c.1735/38

Oil Painting
$1531
Canvas Print
$60.61
SKU: BFR-13257
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 49 x 62 cm
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia

Woman at Her Toilet, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Woman at Her Toilet n.d.

Oil Painting
$1402
Canvas Print
$66.56
SKU: BFR-13258
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 86.4 x 76.2 cm
Private Collection

Crocodile Hunt, 1739 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Crocodile Hunt 1739

Oil Painting
$3862
Canvas Print
$54.24
SKU: BFR-13259
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 174 x 120 cm
Musee de Picardie, Amiens, France

Venus and Cupid, 1769 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Venus and Cupid 1769

Oil Painting
$1483
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-13260
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 71.1 x 59.4 cm
Huntington Library and Art Gallery, California, USA

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

The Chinese Garden c.1742

Oil Painting
$2195
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-13261
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 40.5 x 48 cm
Musee des Beaux Arts, Besancon, France

Spring, 1745 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Spring 1745

Oil Painting
$1773
Canvas Print
$56.46
SKU: BFR-13262
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 98.5 x 132 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

Mercury Confiding the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs, c.1732/34 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Mercury Confiding the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs c.1732/34

Oil Painting
$4232
Canvas Print
$64.62
SKU: BFR-13263
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 230 x 273 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

The Bird Nesters, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Bird Nesters n.d.

Oil Painting
$2286
Canvas Print
$68.09
SKU: BFR-13265
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 91.5 x 81.6 cm
Private Collection

Pastoral Landscape with River, 1741 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Pastoral Landscape with River 1741

Oil Painting
$1651
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-16790
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 68 x 112.4 cm
Public Collection

Madame de Pompadour, 1754 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Madame de Pompadour 1754

Oil Painting
$1483
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-16983
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 36.5 x 28 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

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

The Chinese Wedding c.1742

Oil Painting
$2632
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-17308
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 40 x 65 cm
Musee des Beaux Arts, Besancon, France

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

The Chinese Hunt c.1742

Oil Painting
$1373
Canvas Print
$62.68
SKU: BFR-17309
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 40 x 49 cm
Musee des Beaux Arts, Besancon, France

Chinoiserie, c.1742 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Chinoiserie c.1742

Oil Painting
$1306
Canvas Print
$51.06
SKU: BFR-17310
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 38 x 52 cm
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Psyche and Amour, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Psyche and Amour n.d.

Oil Painting
$1400
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BFR-17713
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 33.5 x 28.8 cm
Musee Cognacq-Jay, Paris, France

Marie-Emilie Baudouin, Daughter of the Painter, c.1758/60 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Marie-Emilie Baudouin, Daughter of the Painter c.1758/60

Oil Painting
$1653
Canvas Print
$64.07
SKU: BFR-17714
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 75.5 x 65 cm
Musee Cognacq-Jay, Paris, France

The Beautiful Cook, c.1735 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Beautiful Cook c.1735

Oil Painting
$1855
Canvas Print
$60.32
SKU: BFR-17715
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 55.5 x 43.2 cm
Musee Cognacq-Jay, Paris, France

The Toilet of Venus, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Toilet of Venus n.d.

Oil Painting
$2063
Canvas Print
$61.17
SKU: BFR-17716
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 63.5 x 80.5 cm
Petit Palais Musee des Beaux Arts, Paris, France

Venus, c.1754 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Venus c.1754

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: BFR-17810
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 22.5 x 40 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

A Nude Woman Reaching to the Right, c.1769 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

A Nude Woman Reaching to the Right c.1769

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: BFR-17811
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 27.3 x 39.4 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

Venus Reclining on a Dolphin, c.1745 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Venus Reclining on a Dolphin c.1745

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: BFR-17812
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 22 x 33.7 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

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