In addition to creating paintings on canvas, Boucher also worked in chalk pastels, such as this piece. Throughout his prolific career, he sometimes made two or three of these quick chalk drawings a day, producing well over 10,000 drawing and paintings in his lifetime, ranging from quick sketches to completed chalk compositions, such as Venus and Cupid. Although it was only a drawing, Boucher intended this piece to be hung like a painting, completed the illustration of Venus and Cupid with his sensuous chalk outlines and voluptuous female nude. Until the 18th century, many artists had not made much use of chalks, but in this portrait Boucher uses them to their utmost capacity, creating billowing green shrubbery and soft fleshy bodies.
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