Francois Boucher

François Boucher ( 1703 – 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman, engraver and designer whose works came to represent the perfect expression of French Rococo. He became possibly the most celebrated decorative artist of the 18th century. The Royal Academy made him a member in 1734.

His worked impressed Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV, and she became his patroness in the 1750s. He executed important decorative commissions for her at Versailles, Marly and Bellevue as well as many portraits of her. He went on to become the main designer for the royal porcelain factories (Sevres) as well as director of the Gobelins tapestry factory. In 1756 he became director of the Royal Academy and held the post of first painter to the King (Louis XV).

Boucher is best known for his voluptuous and idyllic paintings featuring classical mythological themes, pastoral scenes and decorative allegories and was characterised by his use of delicate colours, . He drew his inspiration from artists such as Peter Paul Rubens and Antoine Watteau and his early work celebrated an idyllic and tranquil depiction of nature. His work also featured scenes taken from classical themes, and were erotic and passionate in nature, often with female nudes in intimately amorous situations. His elegant, refined and playful style became the hallmark of the court of Louis XV.

He was also a master of the Genre scene and he used his own wife and children as models for paintings such as ‘The Breakfast’ (1739) a light hearted family scene. In contrast however, he did gain some notoriety with his private commissions for wealthy collectors. His Odalisque portraits with their licentious style earned him the accusation from the art critic Diderot of ‘prostituting his own wife ‘when her used her a model for the dark-haired version of the portraits.

His artistic preeminence started to decline towards the end of his life. With the emergence of Neoclassicism and the increasing sterility of his own work, together with overproduction and bad translations of his work into tapestries, his popularity faded and lost favour with both the public and art critics.