Fountain with Two Tritons Blowing Conch Shells
François Boucherc. 1736
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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 <em>l'art rocaille, </em>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.
- Title: Fountain with Two Tritons Blowing Conch Shells
- Creator: François Boucher (French, 1703–1770)
- Date Created: c. 1736
- Physical 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.)
- Provenance: Possibly Gabriel Huquier [1695-1772], Paris, (his sale, Paris, Tableaux, Gouaches, Desseins...du Cabinet de M. ***, 1771, no. 89), (possibly sale, Paris, Tableaux...composant le cabinet de M. Rochaz, February 11, 1856, no. 3), Probably M. Marmontel, (Hotel Drouot, Paris, Aquarelles et Dessins...composant la collection de M. Marmontel, January 25-26, 1883, no. 44), Possibly "M[onsieur] S.", (Hotel Drouot, Paris, Dessins Anciens et Modernes...Appartenant à M. S..., June 1, 1896, no. 2), Franz Lederer [1899-2000], Palm Springs, CA, (Erich Lederer, Geneva, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Drawing
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.529
- Medium: Black and white chalks with stumping and red chalk on beige laid paper
- Inscriptions: 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]
- Fun Fact: While translating this drawing into etching, the printmaker Gabriel Huquier replaced Boucher's grotto setting with an architectural niche.
- Department: Drawings
- Culture: France, 18th century
- Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
- Collection: DR - French
- Accession Number: 1952.529
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