Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009558Cupids in Conspiracy
About the Artwork
Along with Music and Dance (1948.181.1), this work is surely part of a series of over-door paintings that would have been installed in a house. However, where the panels were originally installed or who commissioned them remains unknown. They exemplify the fusion of fine arts and decorative arts that was common in elite interior design in 18th-century France. Even though the paintings were part of the wall decoration of the room, the patrons chose François Boucher, a well-known painter of portraits and genre scenes, as well as mythological and religious subjects, to execute them. These two paintings reflect a style that was popular both at court and among other wealthy patrons through much of the eighteenth century: light, charming, pastoral scenes that mix classical elements with pure fantasy. Both of them feature putti, chubby baby characters that add a touch of humor to the images.
Inscriptions
Signed left: "F Boucher"
Provenance
J. Carpenter Gamier, Rookesbury Park, Fareham, England July 13, 1895: (Sale: Christie's, London, July 13, 1895) A. Werthemeyer Baron Gustav Neufeld von Schoeller (?), Vienna, Austria [Duveen Brothers, New York, NY] -1948: Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1948-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
A Voluptuous Taste: French Painting in the Age of Madame de Pompadour. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours, Tours, France (October 11, 2008-January 12, 2009); Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (organizer) (February 7-May 17, 2009).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- François Boucher (French, 1703–1770)
- Date
- 1740s
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 77.5 x 131.5 x 6 cm (30 1/2 x 51 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 68.8 x 123.2 cm (27 1/16 x 48 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of the Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation
- Accession no.
- 1948.181.2
More by François Boucher in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009558
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