François Boucher was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories, and pastoral scenes. He was perhaps the most celebrated painter and decorative artist of the 18th century.
Paintings by François Boucher
The Blonde Odalisque (1752)
The Blonde Odalisque, or Resting Girl (French: Jeune fille allongée, Jeune fille couchée or L'Odalisque blonde), are two oil-on-canvas paintings by the French painter François Boucher. The paintings feature a naked woman on her stomach on a couch. The first was made in 1751, whilst the second was made in 1752, although both were made by Boucher. The nude figure is thought to be Marie-Louise O'Murphy, one of the many mistresses of King Louis XV of France, who was only 14-15 years old when the painting was made. The paintings fall into the odalisque genre.
Boucher's The Blonde Odalisque, or Resting Girl, is filled with soft pastel colors such as pinks, yellows, and blues. The profusion of flowery tones boldly embodies the Rococo era. The nude girl and suggestive symbols throughout the painting help convey an eroticism. The different shades of yellow throughout the piece create a serene tone that accentuates the girl's pinkish nude body. The viewer's eye is directed to the girl by the drapes that hang down the side of the room. The open book that seems to be abandoned, the lone rose left on the floor, and even her expression can be interpreted a few different ways. She could either be surprised or anxious. Maybe someone is entering the room that she wasn't expecting, or she could be waiting anxiously for someone to arrive.
Portrait of Madame de Pompadour (1759)
Portrait of Madame de Pompadour is a 1759 oil-on-canvas painting by the French Rococo artist François Boucher, now in the Wallace Collection in London. It was the last of a series of seven portraits by the artist of Madame de Pompadour. It was first exhibited at the Château de Versailles before passing to the subject's brother.
The Brunette Odalisque (1740)
The Brunette Odalisque (French: L'Odalisque or l'Odalisque brune) is a 1745 oil-on-canvas painting by French artist François Boucher, now in the Louvre in Paris. The painter's signature is engraved on the low table. He later produced two other works in the odalisque genre, both known as The Blonde Odalisque.
The Brunette Odalisque depicts a partially nude woman in the foreground. Some speculate that it may be improper to call this woman an “odalisque” or a female concubine. However, many aspects of the painting suggest an exotic theme, such as the bed without a bed frame, the intricate pattern of vegetation on the screen, as well as the feathers in the woman’s hair. The woman in the painting is portrayed very intimately and specifically, as if the painting were a portrait of a particular person.
Diana Bathing (Boucher) (1742)
Diana Bathing or Diana Getting out of her Bath (French: Diane sortant du bain) is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist François Boucher, created in 1742. It depicts the Roman goddess Diana, with a nymph as her companion. The painting was acquired in 1852 by the Louvre, in Paris.
The painting depicts in the foreground the naked goddess Diana, having just come out from her bath, with a female companion. Diana is recognizable by the crown of pearls that she wears, with a crescent-shaped jewel, and is in the company of a nymph kneeling at her feet.
The Triumph of Venus (1740)
The Triumph of Venus is a 1740 oil-on-canvas painting in Rococo style by the French artist François Boucher. It inspired The Birth of Venus by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
The painting was one of the large number of drawings and paintings acquired by Carl Gustaf Tessin during his stay in Paris, but he had to sell it off part of his collection to the king of Sweden in 1749 after he experienced financial troubles. The painting is now in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
The Birth of Venus (Boucher) (1754)
The Birth of Venus is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French Rococo artist François Boucher, created c. 1750–1770. It is held in the Wallace Collection, in London, England. The painting was adapted from a 1743 oval composition by Boucher, now part of a private collection in New York.
Aurora and Cephalus (Boucher) (1733)
Aurora and Cephalus is a 1733 oil-on-canvas painting by François Boucher, signed by the artist and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy. It shows Cephalus and Aurora (the Roman form of Eos) from Book VII of Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Boucher produced it after his return from Italy and it was commissioned by François Derbais, advocate to the Parlement of Paris, for his hôtel particulier on rue de la Poissonnière in Paris, as a pendant to Venus Asking Vulcan for Weapons for Aeneas (1732, Louvre). Derbais' descendants sold both works, which came back on the market together in the posthumous sale of Watelet's collection on 12 June 1786. They were bought by Paillet for the French royal collection in the Louvre for 3121 livres.
The Setting of the Sun (1752)
The Setting of the Sun is a 1752 oil-on-canvas painting by the French painter François Boucher. It and its pair The Rising of the Sun were both private commissions for Madame de Pompadour as full-scale models for the Gobelins Manufactory. The tapestries produced from the paintings were completed in 1754–1755 and hung in the king's bedroom at château de Bellevue. They were sold together with the rest of her collection on 28 April 1766 and passed through four other collections before being bought on 2 August 1855 by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford. Like the rest of his collection, they now hang in the Wallace Collection in London.
Representing the rhythm of the day, Boucher creates an integrated pairing layered with allegory and symbolism.
Venus Consoling Love (1751)
Venus Consoling Love is an oil-on-canvas painting executed in 1751 by the French artist François Boucher.
The painting depicts a mythological scene, where Venus, the goddess of Love, depicted as a charming and supple young woman, is impersonating the French Rococo's beauty ideals. She is about to disarm Cupid, by taking away his arrows, that he uses when shooting at people to make them fall in love.
Hercules and Omphale (Boucher) (1732)
Hercules and Omphale is an oil-on-canvas painting by French painter François Boucher, likely completed sometime between 1731 and 1734. The painting depicts the mythological romance between the Greek hero Hercules and Omphale, queen of Lydia. The painting represents an important work from Boucher's early career, completed shortly after his studies under his mentor François Lemoyne.
After its creation in the 1730s, the painting appears to have remained in Boucher's possession. It was later acquired by Pierre-Louis-Paul Randon de Boisset before passing to Philippe-Guillaume Boullogne de Préninville at auction in 1777. It was then acquired by the comte de Vaudreuil in 1787. In the nineteenth, it became part of the Yusupov family collection in Saint Petersburg, where it remained until 1930. Following the Russian Revolution and subsequent nationalization of aristocratic art collections, it was transferred to the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, where it remains on display today.
The Rising of the Sun (1753)
The Rising of the Sun is a 1752 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist François Boucher. It and its pair The Setting of the Sun were both private commissions for Madame de Pompadour as full-scale models for the Gobelins Manufactory. The tapestries produced from the paintings were completed in 1754–1755 and hung in the king's bedroom at château de Bellevue. They were sold together with the rest of her collection on 28 April 1766 and passed through four other collections before being bought on 2 August 1855 by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford. Like the rest of his collection, they now hang in the Wallace Collection in London.
Often described as Boucher's most ambitious and successful mythological works, this painting and its mate were not intended to be displayed as paintings, but rather to serve as models for tapestries to be hung in the bedroom of King Louis XV's country chateau.
Pastoral with a Couple near a Fountain (1749)
Pastoral with a Couple near a Fountain or An Autumn Pastoral is an oil on canvas painting by the French Rococo artist François Boucher, created in 1749. It is held in the Wallace Collection, in London.