Art Institute of Chicago

The Laundress

François Boucher

Date

1756

Medium

Etching, with traces of engraving, in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

France

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

A shrewd entrepreneur, François Boucher worked across media and helped define the elaborately ornamental Rococo style. He produced paintings, drawings, book illustrations, and designs for porcelains and textiles that were collected by a diverse clientele, from the middle class to King Louis XV. Over 1,500 prints were made by other artists after Boucher’s compositions, greatly fueling his popularity. The Laundress , however, in a rare impression before lettering, is one of 32 prints drawn and etched by the artist himself. In this picturesque rendering of French life, a girl elegantly drapes linens on a clothesline as a small boy peeks out from behind a broken-down fence. The pleasant figures and light-hearted atmosphere are characteristic of Boucher’s scenes of country households.

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