Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) is an outstanding French Rococo painter. Painter, draftsman, illustrator, grover using etching technique. He is considered one of the largest animal painters of the 18th century.
Jean-Baptiste was born in Paris, the son of an artist and art dealer Jacques Hudry. From 1707 to 1712 he was a student of Nicolas de Largillera. His own early works are typical of Rococo. In 1708, Udry became a member of the Parisian Academy of Saint Luke and painted paintings on religious themes, as well as still lifes that served as interior decoration. In 1719, the artist was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Since that time, he has been working mainly in the genre of animal studies and hunting. In the years 1733-1734, Udry was the head of the tapestry manufactory in Beauvais. In 1733-1755 he was also inspector of the Tapestry manufactory in Paris. Among other things, he created the cardboards for a series of tapestries depicting the hunting of King Louis XV. He also painted dogs from the royal pack and was appointed "Royal Painter of Hunting Scenes". Udry made a great contribution to the development of the Rococo style in various forms of art: he made drawings for furniture upholstery, projects for candlesticks, clocks, and fireplace screens. According to the drawings of J.-B. Oudry made tapestry boards for the subjects of La Fontaine′s fables. Other monarchs also turned to the artist′s services. He owns a pen portrait of Peter I. Among the artist′s later works, the most famous are still lifes "The Hare and the Leg of Lamb" (1742), which is close to the trompe l′oeil technique, "The White Duck" (1753), distinguished by the accuracy of the drawing and rich shades of white. Jean-Baptiste Oudry died on April 30, 1755 and was buried in Beauvais.