François Boucher

The History of Costume and Personal Adornment

20,000 Years of Fashion

Melissa Lee Hyde

Exploring how the discrediting of Boucher and his school intersected with cultural debates about gender and class, this account of Boucher's art should persuade critics and admirers alike to take another, more considered look.

François Boucher and His Critics

Making Up the Rococo

Jeffrey M. Hurwit

Mark Ledbury

Dr. Mark Ledbury

Director Mark Ledbury

François Boucher (1703-1770) has suffered a curious fate: to have been so identified with the French Rococo as to have lost his visibility as an artist in his own right. Rethinking Boucher reclaims the artist's individuality, revealing not only the diversity of his talents but also the variety of visual and intellectual traditions with which he engaged. Part one, "The Various Boucher," examines the artist's identity in relation to his portraits and self-portraits, his ingenious genre scenes, and his overlooked religious paintings. Part two, "The Unexpected Boucher," focuses on the network of social and cultural contexts in which the artist functioned, including the commercial print market, the theaters of Paris, and the contemporary textual explorations of the exotic. The final part, "The Enlightened Boucher," discusses Boucher's work as a vehicle for Enlightenment visions of the body, whether conjured by Denis Diderot and Jean-Jacques Rousseau or Madame de Pompadour, Boucher's most famous patron.

Rethinking Boucher

Yvonne Deslandres

From the primitive clothes of prehistoric times to the whimsical fashions of today, the history of costume is a vast and popular subject. Why did people of a certain period dress in a particular way? How did contemporary fashion reflect the current social scene? Why did it vary from country to country? These and countless other questions are answered in this comprehensive survey. A fascinating text explores an endless succession of styles and fashions, materials and accessories, while nearly 1,200 illustrations drawn from every conceivable source - engravings, paintings, manuscript illuminations, sculptures, tapestries, drawings and photographs - provide a vivid, almost cinematic accompaniment to the text.

A History of Costume in the West

Manchester City Art Gallery

Paintings, Drawing and Prints from the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm : City Art Gallery, Manchester, 27 June-1 September 1984

Jo Hedley

Wallace collection (Londres).

This first book in English to focus on Boucher for nearly twenty years is an invaluable contribution to the study of eighteenth-century art. Boucher has cried out for reassessment, and here, at last, his work is seen at its very best in numerous beautiful reproductions. Jo Hedley brings new insights into Boucher's art, explaining both his stylistic development and his cultural context; she also examines his legacy, both in a survey of the influence of his imagery in many media and in a deconstruction of the myth of his libidinous personality, based on his art, not his life. Boucher's artistic legacy is also analyzed, demonstrating how the mythology surrounding the painter's so-called libidinous private life have continued to undermine serious consideration of his ability. "Splendidly written and lavishly illustrated, Jo Hedley's book on Fran§ois Boucher is a pioneering publication . . . Hedley's book abounds in new information, fresh insights, and suggestive analysis."--Colin B. Bailey, The Burlington Magazine

Seductive Visions

Alastair Laing

Editors of Scala Publishers

Celebrated painter in eighteenth-century France, who became premier peintre to Louis XV in 1765, Francois Boucher (1703-1770) was equally gifted as a draftsman. During a period when draftsmanship was viewed primarily as an academic exercise, or as a part of compositional development, Boucher was unusual in that he drew continually for his own pleasure. His best-known drawings exemplify the intimate and light-hearted style of rococo, which dominated much of the eighteenth-century. Published to accompany a travelling exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts, this outstanding book celebrated the tercentenary of the artist's birth. It assembles new research on Boucher's drawing's situating the work in its cultural context, as well as examining Boucher's role in shaping the growing market for drawings in eighteenth-century France. Boucher was remarkably prolific, producing some 10,000 drawings during his career, often employing his wife and children as sitters. In addition, he was one of the first artists to cultivate important collectors for his drawings, exploiting the developing taste in Europe and elsewhere for drawings as autonomous works of art.

The Drawings of François Boucher

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)

Detroit Institute of Arts

Traces the career of the 18th century French artist and examines his paintings, drawings, prints, and tapestry and porcelain designs

François Boucher, 1703-1770

François Boucher

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