 François Boucher (French, 1703–1770)
The Love Bird Catcher, c. 1731–33
Oil on canvas
Gift of Anita Hecht Trust, 1998 (8915.1)
During his prolific career, François Boucher served as
First Painter to King Louis XV and his mistress,
Madame de Pompadour. Other major responsibilities
included directing the Royal Academy of Painting and
Sclupture and the Gobelins Manufactory (which made
tapestries), as well as serving as the principal designer
at the Sèvres porcelain manufactory, all of which
indicate that Boucher’s artistic influence reached far
beyond painting.
The Love Bird Catcher displays aspects of Boucher’s
style—a pastel palette, soft lines, playfully amorous
subject matter—that became the hallmark of the
Rococo in the fine and decorative arts. In this work, as
in others, Boucher has paid special attention to texture
and surface, from the supple skin and fine hair of the
putti to the shimmering satin draperies and mossy
grass beneath them. |