Portrait of Francois Boucher

Francois Boucher Painting Reproductions 3 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 Asking Vulcan for the Armour of Aeneas, 1732 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Venus Asking Vulcan for the Armour of Aeneas 1732

Oil Painting
$2062
Canvas Print
$50.82
SKU: BFR-8701
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 252 x 175 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Landscape with Figures Gathering Cherries, 1768 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with Figures Gathering Cherries 1768

Oil Painting
$2117
Canvas Print
$53.57
SKU: BFR-8702
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 170.2 x 124.5 cm
Private Collection

Man Offering Grapes to a Girl, 1752 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Man Offering Grapes to a Girl 1752

Oil Painting
$1796
Canvas Print
$53.02
SKU: BFR-8703
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

The Raised Skirt, 1742 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Raised Skirt 1742

Oil Painting
$1213
Canvas Print
$53.29
SKU: BFR-8704
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 50.8 x 42 cm
Private Collection

The Bather Surprised, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Bather Surprised n.d.

Oil Painting
$1403
Canvas Print
$62.91
SKU: BFR-8705
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Archangel Palace, Moscow, Russia

Mercury Confiding the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs of Nysa, 1769 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Mercury Confiding the Infant Bacchus to the ... 1769

Oil Painting
$5218
Canvas Print
$54.25
SKU: BFR-8706
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 272.5 x 201.6 cm
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, USA

Juno Asking Aeolus to Release the Winds, 1769 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Juno Asking Aeolus to Release the Winds 1769

Oil Painting
$2792
Canvas Print
$54.80
SKU: BFR-8708
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 278.2 x 203.2 cm
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, USA

Venus at Vulcan's Forge, 1769 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Venus at Vulcan's Forge 1769

Oil Painting
$2797
Canvas Print
$55.63
SKU: BFR-8709
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 273.5 x 204.7 cm
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, USA

Boreas Abducting Oreithyia, 1769 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Boreas Abducting Oreithyia 1769

Oil Painting
$2854
Canvas Print
$55.90
SKU: BFR-8710
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 273.3 x 205 cm
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, USA

The Triumph of Venus, 1740 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Triumph of Venus 1740

Oil Painting
$4091
Canvas Print
$60.98
SKU: BFR-9677
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 130 x 162 cm
National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

Leda and Swan, c.1740 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Leda and Swan c.1740

Oil Painting
$1455
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: BFR-9681
Francois Boucher
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Venus and Vulcan, 1754 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Venus and Vulcan 1754

Oil Painting
$1893
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: BFR-13119
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 164.5 x 71.5 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

Cupid a Captive, c.1754 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Cupid a Captive c.1754

Oil Painting
$2581
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: BFR-13120
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 164.5 x 84.5 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan, c.1754 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan c.1754

Oil Painting
$2335
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: BFR-13121
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 165 x 84.3 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

The Judgment of Paris, 1754 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Judgment of Paris 1754

Oil Painting
$2388
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: BFR-13122
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 166.7 x 84.5 cm
The Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom

The Delights of Life in the Country, 1892 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Delights of Life in the Country 1892

Oil Painting
$2604
Canvas Print
$51.09
SKU: BFR-13165
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 100 x 146 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

The Toilet of Venus, 1749 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Toilet of Venus 1749

Oil Painting
$1625
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: BFR-13166
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 107 x 173 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

The Rape of Europe, 1774 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Rape of Europe 1774

Oil Painting
$4610
Canvas Print
$62.22
SKU: BFR-13167
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 160.5 x 193.5 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Mme. Pompadour (Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour), n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Mme. Pompadour (Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, ... n.d.

Oil Painting
$1368
Canvas Print
$68.17
SKU: BFR-13168
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 60 x 45.5 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

The Shepherd's Presents (The Nest), n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Shepherd's Presents (The Nest) n.d.

Oil Painting
$4053
Canvas Print
$49.86
SKU: BFR-13169
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 98 x 146 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Odalisque, 1745 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Odalisque 1745

Oil Painting
$1370
Canvas Print
$61.40
SKU: BFR-13170
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 53.2 x 65.3 cm
Musee des Beaux Arts, Reims, France

The Three Graces carrying Amor, God of Love, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

The Three Graces carrying Amor, God of Love n.d.

Oil Painting
$1328
Canvas Print
$60.43
SKU: BFR-13171
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 80 x 65 cm
Musee des Beaux Arts, Reims, France

Assumption of the Virgin, n.d. by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Assumption of the Virgin n.d.

Oil Painting
$1437
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: BFR-13172
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 195 x 114 cm
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France

Vulcan Presents to Venus the Armour for Aeneas, 1757 by Boucher | Painting Reproduction

Vulcan Presents to Venus the Armour for Aeneas 1757

Oil Painting
$6098
Canvas Print
$75.55
SKU: BFR-13173
Francois Boucher
Original Size: 320 x 320 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France

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