Boucher, François (fräNswä` b

shā`), 1703–70, French painter. Boucher's art embodied the spirit of his time; it was elegant, frivolous, and artificial. He studied briefly with François Le Moyne but was also influenced by Watteau, many of whose works he engraved. At the age of 20 he won the Grand Prix, and from 1727 to 1731 he studied in Italy. On his return he rapidly became the most fashionable painter of his day and a teacher and favorite of Mme de Pompadour. He produced a vast number of pictures, decorations, tapestry designs, stage settings for ballet and opera, and fine etchings. As a result, Boucher enjoyed many academic and official honors including that of director of the Gobelins tapestry works. Fragonard was his pupil for a time. The Louvre and the Wallace Collection, London, excel in selections of Boucher's work. He is well represented in the United States by his Toilet of Venus and Birth and Triumph of Venus in the Metropolitan Museum, New York City. Fine examples of his work are in the Frick Collection, New York City, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Bibliography

See study by A. Laing (1986).

Boucher, François

(born Sept. 29, 1703, Paris, Fr.—died May 30, 1770, Paris) French painter, engraver, and designer. He was probably trained by his father, a minor painter. In 1723 he won the Prix de Rome, but he was unable to travel to Italy until 1728. For his first major commission he produced 125 engravings of drawings by Antoine Watteau. He executed important decorative commissions for Madame de Pompadour at Versailles. His playful style and frivolous subject matter exemplify the Rococo style and embody the elegant superficiality of French court life in the mid 18th century. He became a member of the Royal Academy in 1734, a principal designer for the royal porcelain factories, and director of the Gobelins tapestry factory. In 1765 he was appointed director of the Royal Academy and first painter to Louis XV. One of the great painters and draftsmen of the 18th century, he mastered every branch of decorative and illustrative painting.