Each and every period in the Art history has its own significant masterpiece, which is a distinguishing mark of its time. For the Renaissance such masterpiece is the “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci, for the Impressionism it is the “Impression, Sunrise” by Claude Monet. For the Rococo, unmistakably, it is the “Beautiful Country Woman”, created by François Boucher circa 1732.
It is well – known fact that the Rococo style was the following period of the Baroque age. From the historical point of view, it is the era, which started from the Regency of the reign of Louis XVI and a pan – European style, which has covered all the kinds of art and even, mathematics. (Hyde, 10 – 11) Talking from the artistic point of view, first of all, the Rococo is considering as the neoclassicism. Second of all, it is a style, which is characterized by the paintings with a decorative function, such as the paintings of Charles Joseph Natoire and, undoubtedly, François Boucher. (Hyde, 11) That is why the painting “Beautiful Country Woman” by François Boucher is one of the most representative artworks created in its time. In order to prove this statement, it is important to get deeper into the painting, analyzing it in details.
First of all, from the general observation the viewer may notice that on his painting
François Boucher has depicted a young woman with three little robust yet scruffy children. The interior of the kitchen, where three characters are situated, is a typical interior for the humble Dutch domestic life. ("Beautiful Country Woman.") François Boucher has depicted a peasant life, without any additional luxury: all simple and close to the average people’s life. This is one of the distinguishing marks of this period of time – the embodying the low – life: the virtue of the reality. As we know, since the dawn of times, the global society has never been even. By placing this masterpiece into the socio – historical context, it is important to mention that this painting is representing the lower class of the eighteenth century hierarchical society based on three estates. Also, the reality of this painting is represented through the depiction of the leisure time of the characters: no divine sense of the situation, no mythological context – only average people.
Second of all, getting deeper into the painting, the viewer may notice that each and every element of this masterpiece’s composition is representing the linking events in such a way that it would be easy to make a novel from them. For example, the child in the middle is hugging a cat, probably, his favorite one, the child on the right – a small girl – is standing nearby her mother, as the most important person in her life. The child on the left is sitting on the wooden box, holding a broom as playing with it. ("Beautiful Country Woman.") All of these elements of the painting are creating one unite composition, which may become a subject for the plot of the small novel or a poem.
Another reason, why should we relate the “Beautiful Country Woman” to the ones of the most representative artworks created in its time, is because of its specifically artistic features. First, it is about the color: the viewer may observe here the dominance of the dark shades of colors on the background, in order to emphasize on the first plan of the painting: the
beautiful country woman and her three children. On the first plan of the painting we see the dominance of the warm, bright colors. ("Beautiful Country Woman.") This was made in order to create an illusion of the domestic comfort, which is emerging in the viewer's imagination, while looking at this painting. By placing the "Beautiful Country Woman" into the artistic – historical context, it is important to mention that this picture represents the transitional period between the Baroque Age and the Romanticism, in terms of the coloring: as the Baroque Are is a time of the bright and lush colors and the Romanticism was a time of the domination of the dark colors and confused compositions of fear and terror. Second of all, it is about the way, in which characters’ bodies were depicted: they were painted with the following of all the rules of art, specific for the Rococo Age. We see here the beautiful ideals of Antiquity: full of life bodies, lush and robust shapes. In the combination with the color decision, this painting represents a composition, which is pleasing the viewer’s eye. ("Beautiful Country Woman.") Third of all, the feature, which helps us to relate the painting specifically to the Rococo style, is the depiction of the typical Dutch closing of the eighteenth century. However, in this case, it is important to emphasize the artistic level of François Boucher, as he has painted each and every detail of the people’s costumes with a special accuracy: the material’s folds on sleeves, the ropes of the dresses’ corsets and the shoelaces. All these details have been painted realistically, which gave the whole composition more splendor and distinctiveness. ("Beautiful Country Woman.")
The compositional part of the painting is another reason for us to claim that the painting “Beautiful Country Woman” by François Boucher is one of the most representative artworks created in its time. First of all, as it was mentioned above, it is because of the masterpiece’s realism. Second of all, it is because of the way the objects have been placed on the picture. Comparing to all the compositions of the paintings from the artistic ages that were
coming before the Rococo style, here the viewer may notice the presence of the various kitchen’s object from the pottery to the food. ("Beautiful Country Woman.") These objects were placed in front of the woman and children in order to make this painting closer to the people’s understanding and perception. Unlike with the paintings of the previous artistic styles and ages that were full of the divine context, placing gods, saints and people on the first plan, in this case we see more grounded way of the life’s depiction. Also, as it was mentioned on the beginning of the paper, the Rococo style, apart from others distinguishing features, characterizes by the functionality of the paintings. Consequently, this masterpiece could be used as an element of the interior’s design: despite of the fact that this painting represents the lower class life, it was created with all the rules of art of the Rococo style, which makes it pleasant for the eye and brings it its special aesthetical meaning. ("Beautiful Country Woman.")
As a conclusion, we can state that the “Beautiful Country Woman”, created by François Boucher circa 1732 indeed is the one of the most representative artworks created in its time. Taking to the consideration all the facts, mentioned in this paper, it is worth providing the following arguments: first of all, the painting is representing the real life of the lower classes of the eighteenth century society. Second of all, it is the coloring of the painting: through the game of the light and shades, the bright colors and the dark colors François Boucher has manage to pass to the viewer the illusion of the domestic family comfort. Third of all, it is the composition of the painting in general: despite of the fact that it represents the people of the lower class, the artist has embodied them in the lush and robust forms, specific for the Rococo style. Consequently, the “Beautiful Country Woman”, created by François Boucher indeed is the one of the most representative artworks created in its time.
Works cited:
Hyde, Melissa Lee. Making up the Rococo: François Boucher and His Critics. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Research Institute, 2006. Print.
"Beautiful Country Woman." Norton Simon Museum. Web. 02 May 2016. <https://www.nortonsimon.org/collections/browse_title.php?id=M.1999.1.P>.
