The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of March 29, 2024
Cupids in Conspiracy
1740s
(French, 1703–1770)
Framed: 77.5 x 131.5 x 6 cm (30 1/2 x 51 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 68.8 x 123.2 cm (27 1/16 x 48 1/2 in.)
Gift of the Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation 1948.181.2
Location: 216B French and German
Description
Along with Music and Dance (1948.181.1), 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.- J. Carpenter Gamier, Rookesbury Park, Fareham, EnglandJuly 13, 1895(Sale: Christie's, London, July 13, 1895)A. WerthemeyerBaron Gustav Neufeld von Schoeller (?), Vienna, Austria[Duveen Brothers, New York, NY]-1948Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art1948-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Detroit Institute of Arts. The Fourth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters: French Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, Detroit Institute of Arts, December 2 to 20, 1926. [Detroit]: [Institute of Arts], 1926. cat. no. 3Wadsworth Atheneum. Loan Exhibition of French Art of the Eighteenth Century: Morgan Memorial, Hartford, January 23, to February 6, 1929. [Hartford]: [Morgan Memorial], 1929. cat. no. IMaurois, André. Three French Reigns: Louis XIV, XV and XVI. [London]: [publisher not identified], 1933. cat. nos. 1 and 117The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 488 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 135 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 135 archive.orgCleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 3. European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Reproduced: cat. 22B, p. 51 - 53The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 177 archive.orgPaintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art: Picture Book No. 4 . [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1952. Reproduced: p. 31 archive.org
- French Painting of the Eighteenth Century, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (December 2-20, 1926).A Voluptuous Taste: French Painting in the Age of Madame de Pompadour. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours, Tours, France (October 11, 2008-January 12, 2009); Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (organizer) (February 7-May 17, 2009).Three French Reigns, Louis XIV, XV, XVI, Royal Northern Hospital, London, 25 Park Lane, (February 21-April 5, 1933).French Art of the Eighteenth Century, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford CT (January 23-February 6, 1929).
- {{cite web|title=Cupids in Conspiracy|url=false|author=François Boucher|year=1740s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1948.181.2