Book of Fountains: No. 4

Discussion

FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

French prints promoting l’art rocaille (rock and shell art) or goût pittoresque (picturesque taste) quickly migrated throughout Europe and influenced the development of an international rococo style. The drawing on the left is one of Boucher’s designs for a printed suite of ornamental fountains, two of which are on display here. Boucher melds the shapes of animals, rocks, shells, mythological beasts, and humans into fanciful cascades with a sense of unstable equilibrium.

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