Boucher's Four Seasons

François Boucher (1703ー1770) made the four paintings known as the Four Seasons in 1755 for Madame De Pompadour, King Louis XV’s long-term official mistress. Their original location is unknown, but their unusual shape suggests that they were used as overdoors, no doubt in one of Pompadour’s many properties in France. In place of the labours that traditionally illustrate the theme of the four seasons, Boucher depicts delightful amorous encounters in joyous colours. This combination of luxury and seduction—all treated in a fanciful, even humorous manner—is typical of Boucher.

Accompanying the Boucher paintings are images of Flora Yuknovich’s contribution, an extraordinary cycle of paintings inspired by Boucher’s Four Seasons, to be displayed at the Frick, in a space on the first floor, occupied between 1935 and 2020 by the Boucher Room.