François Boucher

François Boucher, a leading figure of the French Rococo, is represented here through a substantial body of prints and drawings that reveal his mastery of etching and chalk studies, alongside a small group of textiles. The imagery ranges across mythological scenes, such as Vulcan Presenting Arms for Aeneas to Venus and Bacchus and Ariadne, as well as genre subjects drawn from the Italian Village Scenes and intimate portraits like that of his daughter Jeanne Elisabeth Victoire Deshays. This collection comprises 99 works, dominated by etching and etching with engraving, with red and black chalk drawings and several wool and silk weavings. Sheet dates given by the Met span 1720 to 1770, with impressions up to that year reflecting later printings of his compositions.

99 works in the collection · All public domain (CC0)

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (Black and white pastel, with stumping)

· Black and white pastel, with stumping

Design for a Frontispiece: Love Staying the Hand of Time

· Black chalk

Cottage with Figures

· Graphite and pen and brown ink with red chalk over black chalk

Pygmalion and Galatea

· Brown chalk

Vertumnus and Pomona (Brown chalk)

· Brown chalk

Design for a Frontispiece Surmounted by the Sacred Monogram IHS

· Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash

Standing Man Carrying Fasces and Arms

· Pen, brown ink and brown wash over black chalk

Diploma of the Freemasons of Bordeaux

· Black and white oil paint on brown paper

The Continence of Scipio

· Brown chalk, brush and brown wash

Woman and Boy

· Black and white chalk on gray paper; framing lines in pen and brown ink

Laban Searching for his Idols (Genesis 31: 19-37)

· Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over faint traces of black chalk

The Adoration of the Shepherds (Gouache over black chalk underdrawing, on paper, mounted on canvas)

· Gouache over black chalk underdrawing, on paper, mounted on canvas

Groups of Children

· Etching and Engraving

The Five Senses

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

Livre de Chinois

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

River Bank with Factories in the Background

1720–70 · Etching; first state

Hearing

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

Sight

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

Smell

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

Taste (1720–70)

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

Touch

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

Touch, from The Five Senses

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

Chinese Dancer, from Livre de Chinois (Book of Chinoiserie)

1720–70 · Etching and engraving

Woman leaning to left

1722–28 · Etching

Femme assise, de profil à droite, jouant de l'eventail

1726–28, printed 1920s · Facsimile of an etching

Surprised Young Couple Under a Tree

1730–70 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from 'Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart' (1735, Met-Objekt 6469)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from "Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart" (1735, Met-Objekt 6470)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from 'Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart' (1735, Met-Objekt 6471)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from "Livre d'étude d'après les desseins originaux de Blomart" (1735, Met-Objekt 6472)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from "Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart" (1735, Met-Objekt 6473)

1735 · Etching

Title Page, from 'Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart'

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from "Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart" (1735, Met-Objekt 6475)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from "Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart" (1735, Met-Objekt 6476)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from "Livre d'étude d'après les desseins originaux de Blomart" (1735, Met-Objekt 6477)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from 'Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart' (1735, Met-Objekt 6478)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from 'Livre d’étude d’après les desseins originaux de Blomart' (1735, Met-Objekt 6479)

1735 · Etching

Sheet of Sketches, from "Livre d'étude d'après les desseins originaux de Blomart" (1735, Met-Objekt 6480)

1735 · Etching

Collection of Diverse Chinese Figures

1738–45 · Etching

Chinese doctor

1738–45 · Etching

Chinese Lady

1738–45 · Etching

Chinese botanist

1738–45 · Etching

Chinese Peasant

1738–45 · Etching

Chinese Soldier

1738–45 · Etching

Other Chinese Soldier

1738–45 · Etching

Chinese Performer

1738–45 · Etching

Chinese Musician

1738–45 · Etching

Chinese Young Lady

1738–45 · Etching

Another Chinese Musician

1738–45 · Etching

The Gardener (1741–63)

1741–63 · Etching and engraving

Seated Female Nude

1742 · Red chalk, heightened with white on beige paper

New Book of Various Figures

1751 · Etching; second state of two (Baudicour)

Seated Young Peasant Woman Holding a Jug, from Nouveau Livre de diverse Figures (New Book of Various Figures)

1751 · Etching; second state of two (Baudicour)

A Man, seen from behind, holding a trophy of arms, from Nouveau Livre de diverse Figures (New Book of Various Figures)

1751 · Etching; second state of two (Baudicour)

Bacchus and Ariadne from a set of The Loves of the Gods

1754 · Wool, silk (23-25 warps per inch, 9-10 per cm.)

The Young Girl Resting

1756 · Etching; first state of two

The Laundress (1756)

1756 · Etching; first state of two

Vertumnus and Pomona from a set of Scenes from Operas

1758–76 · Wool, silk (21-22 warps per inch, 8 per cm.)

Frontispiece, from Nouveau Livre d'Academies Peintes a Rome par les Eleves de l'Académie Royale de Peinture et Sculpture

1759 · Etching and engraving

Boucher's Daughter, Jeanne Elisabeth Victoire Deshays

1769 · Wool, silk (25 warps per inch, 10 per cm.)

Drawing for "La Colonne Trajane" (18th century, Met-Objekt 6183)

18th century · Red chalk

Drawing for "La Colonne Trajane" (18th century, Met-Objekt 6184)

18th century · Red chalk

Young Girl with a Boy and a Dog

18th century · Red chalk.

Peasant Girl Riding an Ox with Companions

18th century · Black chalk

Study of the left hand of Mme de Pompadour

18th century · Black chalk with slight touches of red chalk, heightened with white; framing lines in pen and brown ink

Seated Woman Holding a Fan

18th century · Red chalk

Two spandrels with winged figures

18th century · Black and white chalk on blue paper

Young Man Wearing a Beret

18th century · Red, black, and white chalk on beige antique laid paper

Half-Length Study of a Man

18th century · Black and white chalk on beige (probably formerly blue) laid paper

Mucius Scaevola Before King Porsenna

18th century · Black chalk, with touches of red chalk on off-white antique laid paper

Girl in a Landscape with a Basket of Flowers

18th century · Etching, first state of two

La Bergère Laborieuse

18th century · Etching and engraving

Child Holding Staff

18th century · Etching; third state of three (Jean-Richard)

Bust Portrait of a Woman wearing a Hooded Mantle

18th century · Etching; first state

Black African Removing Bottles From a Cooler

18th century · Etching; first state

Flower Girl

18th century · Etching

Peasant Holding Fish Net

18th century · Etching

The Parasol, from "L'Artiste"

19th century · Etching printed in brown ink on wove paper

Woman Playing with a Cat

19th century · Etching printed in red ink

A Woman and Children Playing with a Chinese Gong

19th century · Etching in red ink

Vulcan Presenting Arms for Aeneas to Venus, from a set of The Loves of the Gods

Designed 1749; Woven 1754 · Wool, silk (23-25 warps per inch, 9-10 per cm.)

The Fortune Teller

ca. 1725–28 · Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, watercolor, and gouache, over black chalk underdrawing

Fallen Huntsman

ca. 1736 · Red chalk, heightened with white

Fire (ca. 1740)

ca. 1740 · Red chalk

Winged Putti with Flowers

ca. 1750 · Black chalk, brush and gray wash, and white chalk

Boy with Bagpipe

ca. 1750–88 · Silk, wool (22-25 warps per inch, 9-10 per cm.)

Girl Feeding Chickens from the series known as the Enfants de Boucher

ca. 1770–80 · Wool, silk (27 warps per inch, 10-11 per cm.)

The Collation from a set of the Italian Village Scenes

designed 1734–36, woven 1762 · Wool, silk (21-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

The Charlatan and the Peep Show

designed 1734–36, woven 1762 · Wool, silk (21-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

The Gypsy Fortune-Teller from a set of the Italian Village Scenes

designed 1734–36, woven 1762 · Wool, silk (21-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

The Gardener (designed 1734–36, woven 1762)

designed 1734–36, woven 1762 · Wool, silk (21-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

The Hunter from a set of the Italian Village Scenes

designed 1734–36, woven 1762 · Wool, silk (21-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

Girls with Grapes from a set of the Italian Village Scenes

designed 1734–36, woven 1762 · Wool, silk (21-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

The Parrot from a set of the Italian Village Scenes

designed 1734–36, woven 1762 · Wool, silk (21-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

The Egg Seller from a set of the Italian Village Scenes

designed 1734–36, woven 1762 · Wool, silk (21-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

The Charlatan and the Peep Show from a set of Italian Village Scenes

designed 1736, woven 1736–52 · Wool, silk (19-22 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)

Vulcan Presenting Arms for Aeneas to Venus

designed 1749; woven possibly 1771 · Silk, wool

Aurora and Cephalus

mid-18th century · Red chalk over traces of black chalk

A Cottage

n.d. · Black chalk