BOUCHER, François
(b. 1703, Paris, d. 1770, Paris)

Landscape near Beauvais

1740-42
Oil on canvas, 49 x 58 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

In the same way that nudity was finally emancipated in Rococo art, landscape rid itself of the last vestiges of narrative. Born of the artist's imagination and deriving conflict-free unity from this, the scene nonetheless consists entirely of details, including the girl calmly doing the laundry, the thoughtful boy next to her, and the doves fluttering above the roof of the cottage.




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