Music and Dance and Cupids in Conspiracy

Description

Along with Cupids in Conspiracy (1948.181.2), 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.

Provenance

J. Carpenter Gamier, Rookesbury Park, Fareham, England; (Sale: Christie's, London, England, July 13, 1895) (July 13, 1895); A. Werthemeyer (1895-); Baron Gustav Neufeld von Schoeller (?), Vienna, Austria; [Duveen Brothers, New York, NY]; Commodore and Mrs. Louis Dudley Beaumont, Cap d'Antibes, France; Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art (-1948); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1948-)

Music and Dance and Cupids in Conspiracy

François Boucher

1740s

Accession Number

1948.181

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: 69 x 123 cm (27 3/16 x 48 7/16 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of the Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation