Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart, 1837-1880
Nationality: French
Date of Birth: 3 September 1837
Place of Birth: Paris
Place of Death: Paris
Identity:
Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart was an etcher, illustrator and watercolourist. His father Albert Jacquemart was also an artist, although an amateur one. He illustrated botanical books, and was also a collector and an author.
Life:
Jacquemart made his name reproducing in etchings contemporary and old master paintings, and from 1859 until the end of his career he regularly contributed plates to the Gazette des beaux-arts. Whistler wrote to Henri Fantin Latour in 1862 that his brother-in-law Francis Seymour Haden was very impressed with Jacquemart's etchings, which he saw whilst visiting Charles Méryon in Paris. However, Jacquemart was also an accomplished landscape watercolourist and in 1879 was a founder member of the Société des Aquarellistes Français.
Jacquemart shared Whistler's interest in oriental art. His earliest recorded work was an etching dating from 1859 depicting a selection of Chinese and Japanese objects. Along with Philippe Burty, Henri Fantin-Latour and Félix Bracquemond he formed a society that aimed to study Japanese art and culture. When Madame Desoye opened her oriental shop in the rue de Rivoli in 1862, Jacquemart, like Whistler, was amongst the earliest customers.
Bibliography:
Bénézit, E., Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, 8 vols, Paris, 1956-61; Jacquemart, Jules-Ferdinand, Etchings of Pictures in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, London, 1874; Gonse, Louis, L'Oeuvre de Jules Jacquemart, Paris, 1876; Weisburg, Gabriel P., Japonisme: Japanese Influence on French Art, 1854-1910, Cleveland Art Gallery, 1975; Johnston, William R., 'Jules(-Ferdinand) Jacquemart', The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, ed. L. Macy, http://www.groveart.com (accessed 5 April 2002).