Jean-Jacques Le Veau

The Old Palace of Rouen

Jean-Jacques André Le Veau (9 January 1729, Rouen - April 1786, Paris) was a French engraver and designer.

Biography

He was born to Jean-Jacques Le Veau, a poor shoemaker, and his wife Marie-Marthe, née Catelin. In poor health, and too much of a burden for his parents, he was entrusted to the care of the nuns of charity at the Hospice de la Madeleine [fr].[1] His artistic talents developed early, and were noted by the nuns.[2]

In 1744, he was apprenticed to a maker of passementerie. Two years later, he became a student of Jean-Baptiste Descamps at the free drawing school. In 1748, this was followed by an apprenticeship with a silver engraver. At the same time, thanks to Descamps, he was able to serve as a drawing tutor for young girls from "good families".[2] He was able to do this, despite still being in ill-health which, by then, had been diagnosed as scrofula. Surgery, and a convalescence at the Madeleine Hospice provided some relief.[1]

His first professional engravings, supervised by Descamps, date from this period. Notably, a portrait of Philippe de Champaigne, after Gérard Edelinck. The drawing school awarded him a prize for his work in 1750.[1]

After that, he obtained a position in the workshops of Jacques-Philippe Le Bas, again thanks to the influence of Descamps.[3] His move from Rouen to Paris was financially supported by the families of his students, including Antoine Le Couteulx de Verclives [fr], alderman and future Mayor of Rouen.[4] He would stay with Le Bas for four years, although he was offered 600 Livres a year to stay longer. A brief return to Rouen marked the true beginning of his personal career, when he created four engravings of local landscape scenes, signed with his name.[1]

Upon returning to Paris, he published and sold his engravings, and assisted others with producing their plates. In 1765, he married Marie-Geneviève Deny, the sister of his former students Martial and Jeanne Deny [fr]. They had three children. Their eldest, Victoire, would also become an engraver.[2] In 1775, he was admitted to the Académie des Sciences, Belles-lettres et Arts in Rouen.

"The Judge", or "The Broken Jug"
(after Philibert-Louis Debucourt)

He was a hard worker, day and night, and most likely died from exhaustion.[1] He was apparently buried in a mass grave at the church of Saint-Benoît-le-Bétourné, which was demolished in 1831 to make room for the Théâtre du Panthéon.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Jules Hédou, J.-J.-A. Le Veau, sa vie, son œuvre (1729-1786), Noël Charavay and A. Durel, 1903. Online
  2. ^ a b c Jean-Baptiste Haillet de Couronne, "Éloge de Jean-Jacques Le Veau", in Gosseaume, Précis analytiques des travaux de l'Académie de Rouen, 1821.
  3. ^ Frédéric Morvan-Becker, L'École gratuite de dessin de Rouen, ou la formation des techniciens au 18th century, doctoral thesis, 2010. Online
  4. ^ Michel Zylberberg, Capitalisme et catholicisme dans la France moderne : la dynastie Le Couteulx, Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris, 2001. ISBN 978-2-85944-412-9

Further reading

  • Roger Portalis and Henri Béraldi, Les Graveurs du 18th century, Damascène Morgand et Charles Fatout, 1881 Online.

Media related to Jean-Jacques Le Veau at Wikimedia Commons