François Boucher












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François Boucher

 

Life: 1703-1770 (1)

 

Country: France

 

Style(s): Rococo (1)

 

Works: The Rest on the Flight to Egypt (1737)

      Venus and Amor (1752)

      The Painter in His Studio (1753)

      Portrait of Marquise de Pompadour (1759)

      Pastorale (1761)

       

Fun Fact: By 1763, he was the "Premier Peintre du Roi" (First Painter of the King).  Madame de Pompadour, King Louis XV’s mistress, was a great patron and supporter of  Boucher's art. (1)

 

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Portrait of Marquise de Pompadour (1759)

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Shepherd Boy

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The Rest on the Flight to Egypt (1737)






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The Painter in His Studio (1753)

            

             You go to Boucher’s house, but you are suspicious. He was probably the one who kidnapped Chucky. Should you go to the front door? What if it really was Boucher who took Chucky? Will he just give him back like he said he would, or might he do something else? You are so worried that you decide to go around back and sneak up and look in the windows to see if Boucher is there. Maybe even Chucky is there! You creep through the trees until you are around back and then you dash across the lawn and dive into the bushes next to the back door, your heart pounding like a banshee, and you hear footsteps in the house coming closer and closer and closer and you scrunch down and wish that you had a weapon but you don’t. And then, right

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Pastorale (1761)

before the footsteps open the door and find you, they go away. You hear them get quieter and quieter. Slowly, you raise your head and look in the window.

            You see Boucher sitting in a chair, angrily reading from a newspaper : ‘The dark-haired version of the “Odalisque” portraits prompted claims by Diderot (French Encyclopaedist) that Boucher was "prostituting his own wife," and the "Blonde Odalisque" was a portrait that illustrated the extra-marital relationships of the King’(1). You remember learning that Boucher had gained notoriety through private commissions for wealthy collectors, and that, after the ever-moral Diderot expressed his disapproval, Boucher’s reputation came under increasing critical attack (1). You hear Boucher grumbling about how Diderot is always trying to frame stuff on him and then it hits you—the whole trail led straight to Boucher and Diderot. If Diderot disapproved of Boucher this much, then Diderot could have set all of this up to frame Boucher. Of course! It is so obvious. You jump up and rush around the house and down the road, not caring who might see you. You know that it is Diderot!

Denis Diderot































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