Lot 1328 Dα

No other painter influenced the rokoko style as much as Francois Boucher. His art would also define the style for the arts and crafts of this era. Thus our painting served as model for a group of tapestries entitled 'Enfants de Boucher'. With the exception of Watteau, no other artist inspired the spirit of his times as Boucher with his pastoral motifs. His representations of life on the land however were not realistic, but depicted wishful ideality and elegant refinement. Vergil's arcadia were the force behind his pictorial repertoire; not the realistic painting of the Netherlands and the real lives of the farmers and shepherds, but the courtly society and their love of games, fancy dress and pastimes. Madame Pompadour and the court society of France succumbed to it charms as well as art collectors from other circles and countries.
The present painting was produced one year before the death of Francois Boucher and is counted amongst the cabinet pictures that the painter produced for the art market. In its subject matter of delicate girls, the still life on the left edge and the Mediterranean architecture, it was following the imagery, as just described, that Boucher made so popular. Also characteristic for the painter is the sketchy, swift painting style, by which the colours were spontaneously and masterly applied.