Drie personen zittend bij een boom 1727 - 1755

Editor: Here we have “Three People Seated by a Tree,” a pen and ink drawing on paper, likely created between 1727 and 1755 by Francois Boucher. It's housed right here at the Rijksmuseum! I’m immediately struck by its simplicity and dreamlike quality. What stands out to you? Curator: Oh, darling, it's more than just a dream, it’s a whisper from a world obsessed with beauty and fleeting moments. Look at the way Boucher uses line; wispy, almost like captured thoughts dancing on the page. And the composition…the figures nestled so intimately under that arboreal umbrella... It makes me think about whispered secrets and lazy summer afternoons, don't you think? There’s a tenderness that pierces through the centuries. Editor: Absolutely, there’s a real sense of intimacy. Given that Boucher was a Rococo artist, is this a typical scene from his oeuvre? Curator: Yes and no! Boucher often depicted idyllic pastoral scenes, that’s his bread and butter, capturing the carefree abandon of the aristocracy pretending to be shepherds. Yet, this feels different, more intimate, less performative somehow. Perhaps it was a study, a quick sketch dashed off between grand commissions? I almost sense the charcoal dust on his fingertips as he worked on this; the pressure of the pen. I do wonder what story he intended to convey; who are these people and what brought them to that specific spot under the tree's sprawling arms? It is incomplete and that in itself provides endless allure. Editor: So, instead of a fully realized narrative, it's more like a suggestion of one. Curator: Precisely! It leaves us, the viewers, to become co-creators, filling in the blanks with our own fantasies and longings. Delicious, isn't it? I find I keep seeing new things each time I return, adding to the unfinished world on this little slip of paper. Editor: It's true! It gives a lot to think about. I love that we get to be involved with creating part of that image as well, adding to its lasting beauty. Thanks for your thoughts!