Boucher, Fran�ois
(1703-1770), French painter, noted for his pastoral
and mythological scenes, whose work embodies the frivolity and
sensuousness of the rococo style.
Boucher, the son of a designer of lace, was born in Paris. He studied
with the painter Fran�ois Le Moyne but was most influenced by the
delicate style of his contemporary
Antoine Watteau.
In 1723 Boucher
won the Prix de Rome; he studied in Rome from 1727 to 1731. After his
return to France, he created hundreds of paintings, decorative boudoir
panels, tapestry designs, theater designs, and book illustrations. He
became a faculty member of the Royal Academy in 1734. He designed for
the Beauvais tapestry works and in 1755 became director of the
Gobelins tapestries. In 1765 he was made first painter to the king,
director of the Royal Academy, and designer for the Royal Porcelain
Works. His success was encouraged by his patron, Marquise de
Pompadour, mistress to Louis XV. He painted her portrait several
times.
Boucher's delicate, lighthearted depictions of classical divinities
and well-dressed French shepherdesses delighted the public, who
considered him the most fashionable painter of his day. Examples of
his work are the paintings
Triumph of Venus
(1740, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm) and
Nude Lying on a Sofa
(1752, Alte Pinakothek, Munich)
and the tapestry series
Loves of the Gods
(1744). Boucher's
sentimental, facile style was too widely imitated and fell out of
favor during the rise of neoclassicism. He died in Paris on May 30,
1770.