Adolphe Hervier, in full: Louis-Henri-Victor-Jules-François-Adolphe Hervier (1818,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

- 18 January 1879, Paris) was a French painter and engraver, known for his rural

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

scenes. Over his lifetime, his style changed from a strict

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

to an early type of

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

Biography

His father was Marie-Antoine Hervier (1783-after 1830), a painter of

portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

s who had studied with

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

and gave young Adolphe his first lessons. This was followed by studies with Charles Dusaulchoy (1781-1852), who was known for his many portraits of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

.Annie Bauduin (1980), ''Adolphe Hervier : un artiste indépendant entre le romantisme et l'impressionnisme'', page 1 et suiv. He also frequented the workshop of

Léon Cogniet Léon Cogniet (29 August 1794 – 20 November 1880) was a French history and portrait painter. He is probably best remembered as a teacher, with more than one hundred notable students. Biography He was born in Paris. His father was a painter ...

, who was an acquaintance of his father's. He began to produce his own works by the late 1830s. However, he wasn't able to exhibit at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

for the first time until 1849, having been rejected since at least 1840. Despite continued rejection, he would exhibit there on five later occasions, three times in the 1850s and, finally, in 1870. Following an unsuccessful sale in 1856, organized by Hervier himself at the

Hôtel Drouot Hôtel Drouot is a large auction house in Paris, known for fine art, antiques, and antiquities. It consists of 16 halls hosting 70 independent auction firms, which operate under the umbrella grouping of Drouot. The firm's main location, called D ...

, his work began to attract the attention of art critics, such as

Champfleury Jules François Felix Fleury-Husson (17 September 1821, in Laon, Aisne – 6 December 1889, in Sèvres), who wrote under the name Champfleury (), was a French art critic and novelist, a prominent supporter of the Realist movement in painting ...

and

Philippe Burty Philippe Burty (6 February 1830 – 3 June 1890) was a French art critic. He contributed to the popularization of Japonism and the etching revival, supported the Impressionists, and published the letters of Eugène Delacroix. Burty was born in ...

, who was especially appreciative. In addition to his numerous oil and watercolor paintings, he produced engravings by

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. It has also been used h ...

and

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. Despite being Parisian, his favorite painting locations were in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

; including

Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honf ...

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

and Granville. Camille Corot helped promote his work, but he made little money and was employed painting landscape backgrounds for more prestigious artists; notably Charles Édouard Armand-Dumaresq.Short biography
@ the Oxford Index. He never married and, upon his death, his estate went to his mother and brother. Albums of his engravings were published in 1888 and 1896, but he was largely forgotten until January 1909, when an influential art magazine, '' The Studio'', devoted an entire issue to him. His paintings may be seen at the

Musée des beaux-arts de Dijon The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon is a museum of fine arts opened in 1787 in Dijon, France. It is one of the main and oldest museums of France. It is located in the historic city centre of Dijon and housed in the former ducal palace which was ...

and the

Musée Lambinet The Musée Lambinet is a municipal museum in Versailles telling the history of the town. Since 1932, it has been housed in the hôtel Lambinet, a hôtel particulier designed by Élie Blanchard, built in the second half of the 18th century by a part ...

. The

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

has a collection of his prints and drawings.

Selected works

File:Hervier-Interior.jpg, Peasant Interior File:Adolphe Hervier Le Potiron.png, The Pumpkin File:Hervier-Village.jpg, Village Scene File:Hervier-Piggery.jpg, The Piggery File:Hervier-Farmyard.jpg, Farmyard

References

External links

More works by Hervier
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Hervier, Adolphe 1818 births 1879 deaths 19th-century French painters French engravers French genre painters Painters from Paris

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links