© Musée du Louvre; photograph by Peter Harholdt
François Boucher (French, 1703-1770). Marquise de Pompadour (ca. 1750). Oil on canvas. 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 in. (0.6 x 0.455 m).
Paintings and prints by French artist François Boucher (1703-1770) illustrate the decadence and extravagance of France's royalty and nobility during the Rococo period of the Ancien Régime. Boucher, a shrewd marketer of his works, found favor with Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, the divorced Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764). His captivating full-length portrait of the beguiling mistress of King Louis XV (r. 1715-1774) depicts an ambitious woman in all of her elegant finery. She managed to exert considerable influence on the intellectual life of eighteenth-century France. Boucher's portrait of Louis' illustrious consort includes a fallen globe and scrolled documents unravelled on the floor next to her feet. This is perhaps a reference to the political disorder that the courtesan actually encountered at the French court. Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot (1713-1784), editor-in-chief of the famous Encyclopédie (1751-1766), said of Boucher in 1761, "That man is capable of everything--except the truth." Diderot's assessment of the artist may have been corrupt. Madame de Pompadour (ca. 1750), painted a decade earlier, contains subtle symbols in its foreground that presaged conflicts culminating in the French Revolution.
"Kings as Collectors" is on view from October 14, 2006 through September 2, 2007 at the High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30309 (Telephone: 404-733-HIGH; Website). The museum is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Thursday from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday from 12:00 Noon to 5:00 PM. Admission is $15.00 for adults, $12.00 for seniors and students with valid student identification cards and $10.00 for children ages 6 to 17 years of age.
This picture comes from one of the many special art exhibitions available to you during Summer 2007. To view the full list of shows, please see this page.
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Stan Parchin, Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions, is a specialist in ancient, late-medieval and Renaissance art and history, and a regular contributor to About Art History. You may read all of his Special Exhibition and Catalogue Reviews here.
"Kings as Collectors" is on view from October 14, 2006 through September 2, 2007 at the High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30309 (Telephone: 404-733-HIGH; Website). The museum is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Thursday from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday from 12:00 Noon to 5:00 PM. Admission is $15.00 for adults, $12.00 for seniors and students with valid student identification cards and $10.00 for children ages 6 to 17 years of age.
This picture comes from one of the many special art exhibitions available to you during Summer 2007. To view the full list of shows, please see this page.
*********
Stan Parchin, Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions, is a specialist in ancient, late-medieval and Renaissance art and history, and a regular contributor to About Art History. You may read all of his Special Exhibition and Catalogue Reviews here.