Book of Fountains: No. 4 (c. 1736): Art, History and Details

Book of Fountains: No. 4 (c. 1736) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Gabriel Huquier (French, 1695–1772); François Boucher (French, 1703–1770).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Book of Fountains: No. 4
• Date: c. 1736
• Creator attribution: Gabriel Huquier (French, 1695–1772); François Boucher (French, 1703–1770)
• Culture: France
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching
• Dimensions: Sheet: 35.5 x 25.9 cm (14 x 10 3/16 in.); Platemark: 27.1 x 17.3 cm (10 11/16 x 6 13/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1953.674

Collection credit

Gift of Erich Lederer

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.