Fountain with Two Tritons Blowing Conch Shells
c. 1736
François Boucher
François Boucher (French, 1703–1770)
Drawings
Fountain with Two Tritons Blowing Conch Shells, c. 1736. François Boucher (French, 1703–1770). Black and white chalks with stumping and red chalk on beige laid paper; sheet: 37.7 x 22.2 cm (14 13/16 x 8 3/4 in.); secondary support: 39.6 x 24.2 cm (15 9/16 x 9 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1952.529 In this early chalk drawing, François Boucher combined plants, dolphins, rocks, shells, and tritons (mythological creatures that are part man and part fish) into a design that was meant to suggest a fountain in a rocky garden grotto. This sheet represents l'art rocaille, or "rock and shell art," a style of ornament that developed in France during the 1730s and featured decorative compositions with abundant detail. The image was one of seven that the printmaker Gabriel Huquier translated as etchings around the time Boucher completed them. These reproductions helped to bring Boucher's work to a broader audience, including other artists who emulated his style. While translating this drawing into etching, the printmaker Gabriel Huquier replaced Boucher's grotto setting with an architectural niche.
- Maker/Artist
- Boucher, François
- Classification
- Drawing
- Formatted Medium
- Black and white chalks with stumping and red chalk on beige laid paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 37.7 x 22.2 cm (14 13/16 x 8 3/4 in.); Secondary Support: 39.6 x 24.2 cm (15 9/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
- Inscribed
- Inscription: lower left, in brown ink: Boucher; secondary support, in graphite: [195?]; verso of secondary support, upper center, in brown ink: M / No. 53; center, in graphite: B / [illegible]
- Departments
- Drawings
- Accession Number
- 1952.529
- Credit Line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Exhibitions
- Italian and French Drawings, The Eighteenth Century: One Hundred Drawings by One Hundred Artists, French Master Drawings of the 17th and 18th Centuries in North American Collections, François Boucher in North American Collections: 100 Drawings, 18th Century Master Drawings, François Boucher, National Schools of Style, Real Prints: Reproduction or Invention, Treasures on Paper, Rococo, Revolution, Restoration, French Drawings from the Collection, Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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