A. Duval Explained

A. Duval was an artist and engraver active in France from 1769 to 1801.

Works

Duval's earliest known work is a highly detailed watercolor of a dungeon, signed and dated 1769. A later watercolor of a dungeon is signed and dated 1773.^[1] A drawing of a "design for the top and side of an oval, enamelled, gold, neo-classical snuffbox," at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, bears an identical signature and the date 1770.^{[2] [3]}

Engravings of Duval's depictions of French furniture were published by in Paris, c.1770.^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

His engravings of architectural studies by (also called Boucher fils), published by around 1775, include a stylized and dated signature "ADUVAL fecit 1774" with conjoined letters A and D.^{[8] [9] [10]} Four architectural studies of tombs drawn and engraved by the artist (inscribed "Duval inv. sculp. 1775") are cited by Jessen.^[11]

Later works include his engravings after illustrations by Antoine-Denis Chaudet, François Gérard, Jean-Guillaume Moitte, and Nicolas-Antoine Taunay for the first volume of the complete Oeuvres de Jean Racine published by Pierre Didot in Paris in 1801.^[12]

In museums

A. Duval's engravings are conserved at the Metropolitan Museum in New York,^[13] the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,^[14] the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam,^[15] and in Paris at the Louvre^[16] and the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (INHA).^[17]

Bibliography

• Boucher, Juste-Nathan François. Receuil des Décorations intérieures par Juste-François Boucher fils; soixante planches reproduites en facsimilé d’après l’édition de Chereau (vers 1775), Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1904.
• Delafosse, Jean-Charles. Oeuvre de Jean-Charles Delafosse, vol. 3: Meubles, cahier Q, Paris: Jacques-François Chéreau, series published between 1760 et 1790.
• Guilemard, Désiré. Les maîtres ornemanistes: dessinateurs, peintres, architectes, sculpteurs et graveurs..., Paris: E. Plon, 1880.
• Jessen, Peter (1858-1926). Katalog der ornamentstich-sammlung des Kunstgewerbe-museums, mit 200 abbildungen, Leipzig: E.A. Seeman, 1894.
• Thieme, U., Vollmer, H., Willis, F. C., Becker, F. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart: unter Mitwirkung von 300 fachgelehrten des In- und Auslandes, vol. 10, p. 238, Leipzig: E.A. Seemann, 1914.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 3212 CONTINENTAL SCHOOL, DUNGEONS, WATERCOLOR. michaans.com . July 26, 2024 .
2. Web site: Design Duval 1770. collections.vam.ac.uk . July 28, 2024 .
3. The V&A's online note for the snuffbox design expresses some uncertainty about the identification of the artist: "The precise identity of Duval is unclear. Two Duvals, both without other recorded names [though the first has a recorded initial], are possible candidates; they were respectively an engraver (e.g. after Boucher in 1774) [i.e., A. Duval] and an architect (active at Versailles c.1780)." Further details about this architect have not been traced.
4. Thieme, p. 238.
5. Guilemard, pp. 185 and 231.
6. Jessen, pp. 12 and 142.
7. Delafosse, cahier Q.
8. Guilemard, p. 231.
9. Jessen, p. 14.
10. Boucher, three unpaginated images.
11. Jessen, p. 238.
12. Web site: Oeuvres de Jean Racine. www.metmuseum.org. July 26, 2024 .
13. Web site: Interiors, Furniture, Altars, Second Series. www.metmuseum.org. July 27, 2024.
14. Web site: A. Duval, Canapé . emuseum.mfah.org. July 27, 2024.
15. Web site: Bank, anonymous, after A. Duval, 1745-1775 . www.rijksmuseum.nl. July 27, 2024.
16. Web site: DUVAL A. . collections.louvre.fr. July 27, 2024.
17. Web site: IIIe volume de l'Oeuvre de J. Ch. Delafosse, cahier Q . bibliotheque-numerique.inha.fr. July 27, 2024.