Achille Deveria

Beautiful original black and white lithograph by Achille Devéria (Paris, 1800-1857) printed by Lemercier Benard et Cie in 1838 in Paris. It represents a real scene from the life of the Italian painter Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), where he is captured by a band of Neapolitan bandits and paints the portrait of the chief's wife. French text: " ROSA (Salvator) Le peintre tombe au pouvoir d'une troupe de Brigands Napolitains, fait le portrait de la maîtresse de leur chef ". This lithograph is stamped with the dry-stamp technique with initials FB, corresponding to François Bulla (1794-1853), one of the most important publishers of engravings in Paris, specializing in popular lithographs. Very good condition, with minor rubbing on the right and lower margins. 

Achille Devéria was an illustrator, painter, watercolourist, engraver, draughtsman, lithographer and curator in the print department of the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris. The son of a French naval officer, he began his artistic studies at an early age as a pupil of the painter Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, and then of Louis Lafitte. At the age of 22, Devéria was already invited to participate in the great Paris Salon exhibition of 1822, where he was very successful.

From 1830 onwards, Devéria devoted himself mainly to lithography, depicting a whole series of characters, especially women, immortalised in the typical costumes of the time, as well as events of his time, which constitute a kind of historical album of the Romantic movement and era. He was one of the most famous portraitists of his time. Many personalities of the time posed for him in his Paris studio on Rue de l'Ouest, including Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire, Jacques Louis David, Marie Dorval, Alexandre Dumas, Théodore Géricault, Victor Hugo, Alphonse de Lamartine, Franz Liszt, Prosper Mérimée, Alfred de Musset, Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Sir Walter Scott, Alfred de Vigny and many others.

In 1849, Devéria was appointed director of the print department of the Bibliothèque nationale and assistant curator of the Egyptology department of the Louvre. Devéria spent his last years travelling in Egypt, where he drew and transcribed inscriptions. In the autumn of 1857, he returned from his travels ill and died in Paris a few weeks later.

His works are exhibited in the Louvre, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Norton Simon Museum and the University of Liege.

The company Lemercier, Bénard et cie was founded in 1837 by the printer Joseph Lemercier (1803-1887) and the engraver Jean François Bénard (1796-1859). It was active until 1843.

Sources: Laure Beaumont-Maillet (1985). "Achille Devéria. Achille Devéria, witness of Parisian romanticism; Maximilien Gauthier (1925). H. Floury (1925) Achille et Eugène Devéria, Paris; Ricochet-jeunes.org; Dictionnaire des Imprimeurs-lithographes du XIXème siècle, ENC; Archives de France.

Artist: Achille Devéria (1800-1857).
Medium: lithograph on paper.
Condition: Very good condition.
Dimensions: 49 x 38.5 / 19 ¼ x 15 ¼ in. (sheet) – 38 x 28.5 cm / 15 x 11 ¼ in.(image).
Frame: 59.5 x 49 cm. / 23 ½ x 19 ¼ in. Wood, glass, very good condition.
Origin: France.