Volupta was the goddess of sensual pleasure in Roman mythology whose parents were Cupid and Psyche (her name also implies willingness). In Greek mythology, Hedone was the goddess of pleasure, born from the union of Eros and Psyche—hence the word hedonism. All that frothing sensuality was certainly one of the hallmarks of 18th-century French Rococo. The archshowman of the style, François Boucher, was born in Paris in 1703. Flora Yukhnovich, born in 1990 in Norwich, England, is a contemporary abstract painter. Currently, the two are engaged in dialogue through their works at the Wallace Collection, a national museum in London that houses an extensive collection of Boucher’s paintings.
“Flora Yukhnovich and François Boucher: The Language of the Rococo,” on view through November 3, is a bold and dashing pairing. Boucher’s pastoral scenes inspired Yukhnovich to explode color onto the canvas in voluptuous satiny curves, similar to the satin folds of the women’s 18th-century gowns. Boucher’s languorously lounging characters are at play with heady erotism—as if they were on the verge of an orgy. Yukhnovich is the perfect painter to play off these Rococo works. Her light and dark contrasts, curling soft contours, and the overflowing layers of paint swirling across the canvas create a perfect atmosphere to bring out the sexual undercurrents in Boucher’s paintings.
Louis XV’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, was a formidable patron of the arts. During her reign as an influencer of taste, the abundant style of lush bouquets of flowers and fruits, flying angels, dragons and monkeys put Paris on the map and claimed the final expression of the Baroque movement. Fast forward to 2024, and in steps Dr. Xavier Bray, director of the Wallace Collection and curator, to pair a contemporary abstract artist with a French Rococo artist from the 18th Century.
Two of Yukhnovich’s paintings are displayed on the Landing of the Wallace Collection, a place of high traffic that leads from the grand staircase into the first-floor galleries. According to Bray, “people rarely take the time to stop and admire the wonderful pictures on display in that space, but now they are taking the time to slow down and truly take in the paintings. The vibrant colors and explosive compositions make Flora’s works particularly compelling and visually pleasing. Likewise, with the Boucher paintings, people are interacting with them as paintings in their own right.”
Yukhnovich has been visiting the Wallace Collection since 2017, and her work has been inspired by Boucher, Watteau and Fragonard. Her two paintings on display are a response to Boucher’s largest pastorals painted in 1749: Pastoral with a Bagpipe Player and Pastoral with a Couple near a Fountain. “Flora’s paintings have a vibrant quality that balances with Boucher’s works,” Bray told Observer. “In her exploration of the depiction of the female body and the male gaze, she finds exciting ways of looking at Boucher’s work to comment on the world we live in today. She takes from his seemingly frivolous world to come up with her own artistic language.”
Boucher’s flirtations between shepherds were a popular theme in Paris theater at that time. Though his arcadian scene is imaginary, it certainly resonated with the 18th-century aristocracy. Curvaceous, luxuriating women are mirrored in Yukhnovich’s blue and pink sweeping color, curling shapes, and plump airiness. Both painters delight in the dance of gaiety. “In the uncertain current climate, escaping into these fictional utopias, which are kind and soft, can be reassuring and comforting,” Bray said.
In 1749, Boucher was asked by a patron to produce these two pastorals to decorate a large salon at a chateau outside Paris and provide a décor that suited the needs of the aristocracy at rest. In 2024, the Wallace Collection asked Flora to provide two paintings specifically for the institution. “She is a contemporary artist who can take on contemporary themes like pop culture and advertising and interlink them with the language of the Rococo,” explained Bray. “The resulting display blurs the boundaries and makes us wonder: is Flora Yukhnovich an 18th-century artist or is François Boucher a contemporary painter? The roles are somewhat reversed.”
Yukhnovich has played with the monstrous feminine in her paintings in previous exhibits like “Thirst Trap” in 2022 at Victoria Miro in London and, more recently, “Ashmolean Now Flora Yukhnovich” at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford in 2023.
Bray ended our conversation by saying that working with Flora has given him the opportunity to deepen his understanding of the scenes that unfold in Boucher’s paintings. “We see young people disguised as shepherds, flirting and enjoying each other’s company,” he said. “Although they might be innocently feeding each other grapes and playing bagpipes, such actions in the 18th Century would have been interpreted as explicitly sexual. The more you look at the paintings, the more you realize they are about sex and not just the seasons of the year!”
