LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH ART. FRANCOIS BOUCHER. 12-05-2011.

Francois Boucher

1703-1770

French Rococo Painter

Boucher was the pet painter of the seductive Marquise de Pompadou. The beautiful Marquise often invited the handsome young artist for private painting sessions in her royal chambers while her aging lover, King Louis XV, was away tending courtly matters.

Artistically and Stylistically Influenced by the following Painters: Antoine Watteau, Raphael, Piero della Francesca, Nicolas Poussin and Mantegna

Education -As a youth Boucher's controlling father insisted that the boy apprentice as a designer of embroidery patterns to the celebrated François Lemoyne. Francois soon tired of this tedious girly work and quit to toil in the studio of engraver and illustrator Jean-Francois

Medium - Oil on canvas

Cause of Death - Old Age

Boucher's favorite subjects and themes were buxom milkmaids and nubile young shepherdess. He often employed local peasant girls as his models.

 

About the Rocco Movement

 

'The Art of the Aristocracy'

 

The word is derived from "rocaille" (pebble), but the term referred in particular to the small stones and shells used to adorn the interiors of grottoes. Such shells or shell forms were the primary motifs in Rococo ornament.

 

The Rococo style began as a backlash against Baroque formality and stuffiness. Unlike Baroque, Rococo is not concerned with religious matters or dramatic expression. The highly decorative art and design movement began in Paris, France in the early 1700s. The style is profoundly symbolic of the self-indulgence of European aristocratic rulers. Rocco manner is characterized by graceful, enchanting, lighthearted themes and seldom features anything of substance. Paintings are animated and clever, reflecting an impishly sensual daydream. 

READ MORE: http://www.historyofpainters.com/boucher.htm