François Boucher

François Boucher (Paris 1703 - Paris 1770) French rococo painter. He is noted for his pastoral and mythological scenes, whose work embodies the frivolity and sensuousness of the rococo style. [1]

Contemporary of Jean-Antoine Watteau, in 1755, he became director of the Gobelins tapestries; in 1723 Boucher won the Prix de Rome. Under the patronage of Madame de Pompadour he created works such as "The Toilet" and "The Bath of Venus" in 1751, as well as "The Rising" and "The Setting of the Sun" in 1752.

Boucher was a talented and prolific painter, draughtsman, etcher, who also did porcelain, tapestry and stage design. His work came to define the aesthetic of French rococo painting in the early and middle part of the 18th Century. His artwork was immensely varied from genre scenes, landscapes, portraits and even history paintings the most important genre in the artistic hierarchy of his time. Biography

Boucher's paintings and drawings celebrated a silvery, shimmering world of perfumes and powders, inspiring copies of his designs in media ranging from textiles and marquetry to porcelain. [2]

Jean-Honoré Fragonard studied intensively with Boucher.