.jpg)
"Seductive
visions" by Jo Hedley was originally published as part of an art
exhibition in Britain at The Wallace Collection. The subject is the French
Rococo painter Francois Boucher, usually associated with the merry, decadent
and aristocratic reign of Louis XV (mid-18th century). The Rococo style of
painting, decoration and architecture became infamous for its frivolity,
superficial beauty, eroticism and strange mixing of different styles.
The book follows Boucher from his birth in a lower middle class family in Paris, his career in painting, and his eventual rise to become an official painter at the French royal court, patronized by the king's equally official mistress, the famed Madame Le Pompadour. The book attempts to place the Rococo in a social context, discusses why Boucher's art became controversial, and details some of the controversies. The Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot was Boucher's most well known adversary. There is also a chapter on Boucher's legacy. During the 19th century, Boucher's erotic and frivolous paintings were interpreted as evidence that the painter himself must have been a libertine, and even pornographic forgeries were attributed to him! Today, his art is often used in purely commercial contexts, for instance as decoration of soap.
On some points, Jo Hedley strays from received wisdom about Boucher. For instance, she denies that the Irish teenager Marie Louise O'Murphy (one of the king's mistresses) ever served as Boucher's model. Nor was Boucher connected to Louis XV's infamous "brothel", where the king kept his young mistresses (or prostitutes).
"Seductive visions" isn't as deep as Melissa Hyde's "Making up the Rococo", but it's a good introduction to Boucher, his art and its time. Also, the book contains good reproductions of Boucher's paintings (and even a few later parodies), all in colour.
Recommended.
The book follows Boucher from his birth in a lower middle class family in Paris, his career in painting, and his eventual rise to become an official painter at the French royal court, patronized by the king's equally official mistress, the famed Madame Le Pompadour. The book attempts to place the Rococo in a social context, discusses why Boucher's art became controversial, and details some of the controversies. The Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot was Boucher's most well known adversary. There is also a chapter on Boucher's legacy. During the 19th century, Boucher's erotic and frivolous paintings were interpreted as evidence that the painter himself must have been a libertine, and even pornographic forgeries were attributed to him! Today, his art is often used in purely commercial contexts, for instance as decoration of soap.
On some points, Jo Hedley strays from received wisdom about Boucher. For instance, she denies that the Irish teenager Marie Louise O'Murphy (one of the king's mistresses) ever served as Boucher's model. Nor was Boucher connected to Louis XV's infamous "brothel", where the king kept his young mistresses (or prostitutes).
"Seductive visions" isn't as deep as Melissa Hyde's "Making up the Rococo", but it's a good introduction to Boucher, his art and its time. Also, the book contains good reproductions of Boucher's paintings (and even a few later parodies), all in colour.
Recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment