From Publishers Weekly

Scorned by some as the exponent of an archaic style, inventor of saccharine images, revered by others as an absolute master of color and texture, Boucher seems more remote than ever with his deliberately make-believe world of goddesses and shepherdesses, his mythic and religious flights. Yet his pictures cast a spell, and this catalogue of a traveling exhibition spans the full range of his output. Boucher's women and men, nymphs and gods are ethereal and carnal at once. The world of his pastorals may not be real, but one has the unmistakable feeling that it's a better world than our own. The facets of his art include busy scenes of Chinese life, stage sets, tapestries, earthy Dutch-like peasant scenes. While the extensive notes and essays make dry reading, the 324 plates (36 in color) more than compensate.

Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Boucher, more than any other artist, exemplified French taste during the Age of Enlightenment, and under the patronage of Madame de Pompadour his career flourished. By the end of Louis XV's reign the sweet, mildly erotic images had lost their appeal, and the artist never regained his former popularity. The organizers of this exhibition had hoped to revive an interest in Boucher, and it is unfortunate that owners of some of his better-known paintings refused to lend them. Tapestries and porcelain are included, drawings and engravings are not. The documentation is mainly a synthesis of previous research, and beause of the missing works it will have to be used in conjunction with other publications; a catalogue raisonne has yet to be written. More of the illustrations should have been in color. Lack of an index makes reference use difficult. Eleanor Riley, Getty Conservation Inst. Lib., Marina Del Rey, Cal.

Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.