1756
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Fountain of Venus is a 1756 unspecified by François Boucher, a Rococo painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a fancy fountain with a woman perched on top. The water spills below as playful putti splash around. Some figures look like stone, others like real people. Boucher mixed up painting and sculpture here. He painted some parts gray to look carved. The scene feels light and playful, but we’re not sure why it was made. Was it for a wall or a fancy room? If you like Boucher’s playful style, check out another artist. Look up François Boucher at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Lighthearted, erotic decorative schemes remained popular among the French aristocracy throughout the 1700s. In this painting, part of the playfulness comes from the way Boucher painted some of the figures in gray, as if made of stone, while the others are fully human. The artist toyed with the boundaries of painting and sculpture, as well as fiction and reality.The original purpose of this painting remains unclear. While it may have been exhibited as an independent work of art, it probably served initially as a preliminary design for a tapestry.
Read the full account in the museum source.
François Boucher was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style.
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