Jean Duplessis-Bertaux
Jean Duplessis-Bertaux (* 1747 in Paris , † 1820 in Paris), among others also called Jean Duplessi-Bertaux , Duplessi-Bertaux , Duplessis-Bertaux , JD Bertaux or Duplessis Berthault , was a French draftsman, etcher and painter who many Illustrated books and is known outside France for his many depictions of scenes from the French Revolution (in Paris as well as in the provinces). In addition to these “revolutionary” reproductions, Duplessis-Bertaux also created countless other pictures and, above all as a draftsman, was extremely productive throughout his life. Very little is known of his immediate circumstances; not even the year of birth and death are definitely proven.
Streak of life
Duplessis-Bertaux's talent became apparent very early on. At the age of seven he is said to have made very good drawings, copies of which can still be found in the historical library of Paris.
With the help of a royal scholarship, he first studied painting from 1762 under Joseph-Marie Vien (1716–1809). He broke off his studies at some point and then began training with the well-known copper engraver Jacques-Philippe Le Bas (1707–1783), which, as his later life's work proves, he successfully completed. Among the important etchers and draftsmen, Duplessis-Bertaux was very interested in Jacques Callot (1592–1635), with whom he was later often compared, along with Stefano della Bella (1610–1664) and Sébastien Le Clerc (1637–1714) Callot de nos jours (Callot of today) was called in France. In painting, Duplessis-Bertaux is said to have been very interested in the work of the baroque painter Jean Le Clerc (1586–1633). In order to practice, he copied (often religious) works by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), Charles Le Brun (1619–1690) and a few other painters for his early etchings .
From 1770 to 1776 Duplessis-Bertaux was a drawing teacher at the École militaire (military school) in Paris. After that, in the years and decades to come, he earned his living illustrating books of all kinds. These included, for example, a very famous book series entitled Recueil des meilleurs contes en vers (Collection of the best stories in verse) by the publisher Hubert Cazin (1724–1795) from 1778, in which the texts of famous French authors were printed; or in 1782 the book Voyage e Grèce et en Orient (Journey to Greece and the Orient) by Count Choiseul-Gouffier , who as an ancient historian received great attention in Germany at that time; or the five-volume work Voyage pittoresque ou Description des Royaumes de Naples et de Sicilie (Picturesque Journey or The Description of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily) by the writer and art lover Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Non ( 1727–1786) , published from 1781 to 1786 1791).
During the French Revolution from 1789 to 1799, Jean Duplessis-Bertaux did a tremendous amount of work as a draftsman and engraver in order to record what were sometimes quite exciting events. And in this Duplessis-Bertaux , inexhaustible in the reproduction of revolutionary scenes , one can probably see something like a picture reporter of the French Revolution. As a painter he was less productive during this time (and probably at all), but at least he created some well-known paintings, one of which will probably not be missing in any illustrated publication of the Revolution: The storm on the Tuileries on August 10, 1792.
For a while (from 1792 to 1795) Duplessis-Bertaux is said to have been an officer in the French army and fought several times against the Chouans in Brittany ; During the turbulent events in 1794 he was imprisoned (probably for a short time).
Even foothills of the French Revolution, such as the Italian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte have been shown by Duplessis-Bartaux what he by his own drawings and paintings by Carle Vernet (1758-1836) and Charles Monnet created (1732-1808) countless etchings. Books with aesthetic content have also been illustrated by him; for example in 1797 the Werther von Goethe . The long list of works published by the French art historian Emmanuel Bénézit von Duplessis-Bartaux shows how productive this artist was.
Towards the end of his life, Jean Duplessis-Bertaux saw the publication of two outstanding works, in which many of his representations were included: In 1814 the Recueil de cent Sujets de divers genres (A collection of a hundred genre images ) and three years later the Tableaux historiques de la Révolution française (Historical tables of the French Revolution). The hundred genre pictures were all drawn and engraved by Duplessis-Bertaux; the tableaux, the revolution tables, contain one hundred and twenty-one engravings by him. In addition, for this last phase of Duplessis-Bertaux's life it is worth mentioning that in 1816 a series of uniforms was published by him in several deliveries in Paris . In the title of these deliveries it was announced that a collection of all the uniforms of the allied armies (Recueil des principaux costumes militaires des armees alliees), which were occupying France (Paris) at that time, should be presented together with those of the French army. However, only the uniforms of soldiers of the English, Russian and Prussian armies have been published (in thirty-six pictures) and it can be assumed that Duplessis-Bertaux was not able to complete the planned work. - The last book illustrated by Jean Duplessis-Bertaux was published posthumously in 1823: The Album de la jeunesse (Album for the Young), a collection of short prose pieces by various authors that he wrote with some pictures, including a self-portrait , and some book decoration has been added.
literature
- Christoph Danelzik-Brüggemann, Rolf Reichardt (ed.): Image memory of a world historical event: The Tableaux historiques de la Révolution française , Verlag Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-35428-2
- Joseph Heller , Andreas Andresen , Joseph Edward Wessely : Handbook for copper engravers or encyclopedia of copper engravers, painter-etchers and form cutters of all countries and schools ... , Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim 1982 (reprint of the 1870 edition by TO Weigel Verlag in Leipzig)
- Emmanuel Bénézit: Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays ... , Verlag Gründ, Paris 1976
- Roger Portalis: Les Dessinateurs d'illustrations an XVIIIe siecle , Verlag GW Hissink, Amsterdam 1970 (a reprint from 1877)
Secondary literature
- Petra & Uwe Nettelbeck : Charlotte Corday: A book of the republic: With a portrait gallery of the revolution according to Levacher and Duplessis-Bertaux , DELPHIN published by Franz Greno, Nördlingen 1989
- Friedrich Sieburg : Robespierre , German Book Association, Stuttgart / Darmstadt / Vienna 1960
Web links
- Literature by and about Jean Duplessis-Bertaux in the bibliographic database WorldCat
- Index entry for Jean Duplessis-Bertaux in the Deutsche Biographie database
- The Library of Congress An article on Duplessi (s) -Bertaux
- The British Museum Collection of paintings by Duplessis-Bertaux in the British Museum
Individual evidence
- ↑ The year 1750 is also sometimes given here.
- ↑ The years 1818 and 1819 are also mentioned here by some sources.
- ↑ This naming is probably about two people: namely Duplessis himself and the pure eraser (Pierre-Gabriel) Berthault. Back then, the names of the draftsman and engraver were always given on the plates and it probably happened now and then that when cataloging or elsewhere only the two surnames of the author were written from which others later only read one name.
- ↑ Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris
- ↑ Duplessis probably only supplied the drawings for these illustrations, so he did the creative part. The engravings show very different handwritings and were therefore made by different engravers.
- ↑ Duplessis-Bertaux probably only supplied the drawings for these illustrations
- ^ After Friedrich Sieburg in Robespierre (Stuttgart 1960).
- ↑ His book Tableaux historique des campagnes d'Italie (published by Auber in Paris 1806) contains around thirty etchings by Duplessis-Bertaux.
- ↑ He is surpassed here by Pierre-Gabriel Berthault , who has one hundred and twenty-four engravings. A total of seventeen engravers were involved in this work.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Duplessis-Bertaux, Jean |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Duplessi-Bertaux; Duplessis-Bertaux; Bertaux, JD; Duplessis Berthault |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French draftsman, etcher and painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1747 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1820 |
| Place of death | Paris |