François Boucher

François Boucher (1703–1770) became the defining artist of the Rococo, creating a world of mythological fantasy, pastoral romance, and decorative excess that perfectly suited the tastes of Louis XV's court. Born in Paris to a lesser-known painter, he trained briefly under François Lemoyne before winning the Grand Prix de Rome at age twenty. His first major commission was engraving 125 drawings by Antoine Watteau, which shaped his developing style.

Boucher returned from Italy around 1731 and quickly found royal favor. He decorated châteaux at Versailles, Bellevue, and Fontainebleau for Louis XV. His greatest patron was Madame de Pompadour, the king's mistress, whom he painted multiple times and for whom he designed everything from stage sets to fans. She called herself the "godmother of Rococo," and Boucher's sensuous paintings of nymphs, shepherdesses, and mythological lovers were central to her vision. His landscapes were famously artificial. He once quipped that nature was "too green and badly lit."

In 1755, Boucher became director of the Gobelins tapestry factory, and in 1765 achieved the twin peaks of French artistic power: First Painter to the King and Director of the Royal Academy. His most famous student was Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Critics began turning against his artificiality even before his death, but his influence on pink-toned decorative painting remained enormous. His works hang at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, the Wallace Collection, and the Hermitage.