BOUCHER, Francois, French painter: b. Paris, 29 Sept. 1703; d. 1770. He was the son of a designer of embroideries, who was his first teacher. Later he studied with Lemoyne and then took up engraving as a means of livelihood; at 20 he won the first prize at the Academie. In 1723 he won the Grand Prix de Rome and in 1725 he made a journey to Italy, in company with Carle Van Loo, and remained there for six years. The painters of decadence, with their lightness and skill, were the ones who most influenced him, and he is in a manner their continuer,— their art freshened, however, by his youth and the national quality of grace of the Frenchman. His success on returning to Paris was immediate and orders for work of all kinds flowed in on him. He painted religious and mythological subjects, landscapes, decorations and especially portraits, being the favorite of his period among the courtiers and wealthy people, particularly for women's portraits. Despite a life in which the pleasure-seeking of his time played a very large part, he was industrious to a degree— the number of his drawings being, at his own estimate, about 10,000. He was in high favor with Madame de Pompadour, whose portrait he painted and who engraved some of his works. He was made inspector of the Gobelins
factory in 1755 and court painter in 1765. His Watteau-like style and graceful voluptuousness gave him the title of the Anacreon of painting. The Louvre gives a sufficient idea of his style in such well-known works as the