Art Blogging: Francois Boucher

I'm staring a seven-day series on my favorite artists and their works. The order shall be:

Sunday: Francois Boucher
Monday: Jean-Leon Gerome
Tuesday: William Adolph Bouguereau
Wednesday: Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Thursday: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Friday: John William Godward
Saturday: Norman Rockwell

Today, my featured artist is the French painter Francois Boucher (1703-1770). The son of an embroidery designer, Boucher initially studied to be an engraver, but his prodigious talents as a painter earned him early acclaim, including admission into the Academy in 1731 and subsequent patronage from the court of of Louis XV. He was the favorite painter of the king's mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour, and eventually became First Painter to the King in 1765.

To the right you see "Lovers at the Park", one of Boucher's genre scenes. He frequently painted these idealized portrayals of court life and incidents in classical mythology. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to see several of his works in an exhibit at the Kimball. His canvases are huge, covering entire walls. They are intricately detailed, yet feature a gauzy and diaphanous visual texture that create an Edenic atmosphere. To me, looking at a Boucher is like slipping into another world of carefree bliss. In Boucher's world, the days go by, the gods play, and no one has a worry or concern.

UPDATE: Links above to the individual artists will be updated periodically to reflect additional posts in the series.