FRANÇOIS LE MOYNE - 1688-1737

First Painter to the king in 1736 for only a few months before his tragic death, François Le Moyne had a career as short as it was prolific. Teacher of Charles-Joseph Natoire and François Boucher, and contemporary of Antoine Watteau and Jean-François de Troy, he reached the height of his glory with his Apotheosis of Hercules painted between 1732 and 1736 on the immense ceiling of the Salon d’Hercule, located between La Chapelle Royale and the royal apartments of the Château de Versailles. After so many years spent in oblivion, Le Moyne is finally recognised today as one of the major artists of the 18th century, exerting a seminal influence on the following generations.

Nearly 40 years after his first monograph devoted to the painter, Professor Jean-Luc Bordeaux proposes a renewed survey of the oeuvre of François Le Moyne (1688–1737). Bordeaux analyses Le Moyne’s contributions to the French rococo as well as lesser-known aspects of his artistic production and career. With almost 140 paintings and 250 drawings, this new catalogue raisonné is an extended edition of the one published in 1984, with significant additions. It also includes an appendix of around 20 pages that describes a considerable amount of works by Le Moyne, now lost but attributed to him by famous collectors of the time and 18th century experts such as Gersaint, Mariette, Paillet and Remy.