La Sultane Lisant

François Boucher prints bring the pastel skies, playful gods, shepherdesses and silken elegance of the French Rococo into your home. Boucher was perhaps the most celebrated painter and decorative artist of the 18th century, favourite of Madame de Pompadour and First Painter to King Louis XV. Our collection of fine art prints covers his mythological scenes, pastorals, portraits, chinoiseries, landscapes and drawings.

About François Boucher

François Boucher was born in Paris on 29 September 1703, the son of a minor painter, Nicolas Boucher, who gave him his first training. At seventeen his work impressed François Lemoyne, who took him on as an apprentice, but after three months he went to work for the engraver Jean-François Cars.

He won the Prix de Rome in 1720 but could only go to Italy some years later. Back in Paris he was admitted to the Royal Academy in 1731, with Rinaldo and Armida (1734) as his reception piece, and married Marie-Jeanne Buzeau in 1733. His career then rose steadily: professor and rector of the Academy, inspector of the royal Gobelins manufactory and, in 1765, First Painter to the King.

His great patron was Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, whom he painted several times, and together their names became bywords for Rococo taste. As inspector of the Gobelins he also designed for woven hangings, and he taught pupils including the gem engraver Jacques Guay. He died in Paris on 30 May 1770.

Style and Subjects

Boucher's paintings are light, graceful and sensuous, in soft blues, pinks and creams. Goddesses, nymphs and cupids float on clouds; shepherds and shepherdesses flirt in idealised countryside; elegant ladies sit among silks and flowers.

He worked with great facility and decorative flair, and his scenes were made to adorn palaces and salons. He is said to have complained that nature was "too green and badly lit", preferring the ideal world of his imagination.

Famous Works

• Rinaldo and Armida (1734). His reception piece for the Royal Academy.
• Aurora and Cephalus (1733), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy. The dawn goddess and her mortal love among clouds.
• The Triumph of Venus (1740), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. Venus rising from the sea amid nereids and cupids.
• Diana Leaving Her Bath (1742), Louvre, Paris. The goddess resting after bathing, one of his most celebrated works.
• Jupiter and Callisto (1744), Pushkin Museum, Moscow. Jupiter, disguised as Diana, woos the nymph Callisto.
• Pastoral with a Couple near a Fountain (1749), Wallace Collection, London. A tender pastoral scene.
• The Rising of the Sun and The Setting of the Sun (1752–53), Wallace Collection, London. Two great mythological scenes of Apollo.
• Madame de Pompadour (1759), Wallace Collection, London. His patron in a garden setting.

Decorating with Boucher Prints

Boucher's pastel-coloured myths and pastorals are made for elegant rooms: a bedroom, sitting room or dressing room with French furniture, mirrors and soft colours. A pastoral like Pastoral Make-Up adds romance to a bedroom.

His portraits of Madame de Pompadour suit a formal living room, and his chinoiseries and landscapes, such as The Waterfalls of Tivoli, are charming in a hallway or study.

FAQ

What art movement was François Boucher part of?

Boucher was the leading painter of the French Rococo, the light, decorative style of the reign of Louis XV.

Who was Boucher's patron?

Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV, was his most important patron. He painted her several times, and became First Painter to the King in 1765.

What did Boucher paint?

Mythological scenes, pastorals, portraits, landscapes and chinoiseries, as well as decorative designs.

Where can I see Boucher's paintings?

The Louvre and the Wallace Collection in London hold major works. Others are in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, the Pushkin Museum, the Hermitage and the Bavarian State Painting Collections.

Related Artists

• François Lemoyne: his early master
• Jean-Antoine Watteau: painter of fêtes galantes whose style shaped early Rococo
• Jean-Honoré Fragonard: the leading Rococo painter of the next generation
• Jacques-Louis David: young painter Boucher sent to train with Joseph-Marie Vien
• Jean-Baptiste Greuze: French painter of the same era with a moralising style