DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68073#0330
304
OLD WORLD MASTERS
LES DEUX CONFIDENTES.
Francois Boucher
(1703-1770).
Collection of
Mrs. William R. Timken.
Madame de Pompadour was the first owner of this picture and it
looks as if it might have been painted at her suggestion. It is signed
and dated 1750 and measures 32 x 29 inches,—a perfect size for a
boudoir or a small salon. Next the picture was in the Collections of
Pillet-Will, the Marquis de Marigny, and the Marquis de Menars.
Here we have two young ladies of high degree playing at pastoral
life. Their bare feet and the presence of sheep are the only suggestion
that they are shepherdesses. They are, however, shepherdesses of
the kind we read of in the eclogues of poets.
In every way the picture is charming. The composition is fault-
less, the lights splendidly concentrated and diffused, and the colors
are of exquisite beauty. Against the green of the feathery trees in
the background and the verdant turf in the foreground the lustrous
silken dresses—palest blue and palest rose—of the young ladies who
are exchanging confidences (doubtless of faithful or faithless lovers)
appear to the greatest advantage. The flowers, tumbling out of the
basket which has fallen down, are most sympathetically painted by
one who rarely, if ever, omitted roses in any picture. All the colors
melt and mingle in perfect harmony.
Boucher painted at the height of the Louis XV period and of this
period Elie Faure says:
“Francois Boucher is it's soul. Fashion is always present in his
facile and fecund work—on ceilings, screens, carriage-panels, dessous
fortes, boxes and fans—shepherdesses and pastorales everywhere
and on every thing. Charming in manner, generous, pleasure-loving
and adored by both men and women, Boucher stands with the King’s
mistress, Madame de Pompadour, as the centre of his own revolving
circle of winged Cupids and garlands of flowers.”
Frangois Boucher, born in Paris, Sept. 29, 1703, began his career
as an illustrator and engraver and went to Italy with Carle Van Loo.
OLD WORLD MASTERS
LES DEUX CONFIDENTES.
Francois Boucher
(1703-1770).
Collection of
Mrs. William R. Timken.
Madame de Pompadour was the first owner of this picture and it
looks as if it might have been painted at her suggestion. It is signed
and dated 1750 and measures 32 x 29 inches,—a perfect size for a
boudoir or a small salon. Next the picture was in the Collections of
Pillet-Will, the Marquis de Marigny, and the Marquis de Menars.
Here we have two young ladies of high degree playing at pastoral
life. Their bare feet and the presence of sheep are the only suggestion
that they are shepherdesses. They are, however, shepherdesses of
the kind we read of in the eclogues of poets.
In every way the picture is charming. The composition is fault-
less, the lights splendidly concentrated and diffused, and the colors
are of exquisite beauty. Against the green of the feathery trees in
the background and the verdant turf in the foreground the lustrous
silken dresses—palest blue and palest rose—of the young ladies who
are exchanging confidences (doubtless of faithful or faithless lovers)
appear to the greatest advantage. The flowers, tumbling out of the
basket which has fallen down, are most sympathetically painted by
one who rarely, if ever, omitted roses in any picture. All the colors
melt and mingle in perfect harmony.
Boucher painted at the height of the Louis XV period and of this
period Elie Faure says:
“Francois Boucher is it's soul. Fashion is always present in his
facile and fecund work—on ceilings, screens, carriage-panels, dessous
fortes, boxes and fans—shepherdesses and pastorales everywhere
and on every thing. Charming in manner, generous, pleasure-loving
and adored by both men and women, Boucher stands with the King’s
mistress, Madame de Pompadour, as the centre of his own revolving
circle of winged Cupids and garlands of flowers.”
Frangois Boucher, born in Paris, Sept. 29, 1703, began his career
as an illustrator and engraver and went to Italy with Carle Van Loo.