SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The work of Adolphe Hervier brings together painted landscapes and printmaking: his depictions of the countryside and ports in oil or watercolour are complemented by his practice of etching, aquatint and lithography. In his early years, his subjects take him notably to Normandy — to Honfleur, Le Havre, Rouen and Granville — as well as to Picardy. He attends the studios of Léon Cogniet and Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps, and probably that of Eugène Isabey. He begins producing works in 1840.
Printmaking occupies an early place in his career. In 1843, he produces the series Croquis de voyage for the Parisian publisher Alexis Febvre, using drypoint on steel. In 1852, his lithograph album Paysages, marines, baraques is published in Paris by Lebrasseur. He exhibits at the Salon for the first time in 1849, then in 1850, 1852 and 1855; he returns from 1864 to 1870.
Later, according to the biographical notice, the Louvre becomes a source of inspiration. Two of the artist’s etchings appear in 1863 and 1864 in the portfolio volumes of the Société des aquafortistes, presented by Théophile Gautier and Jules Janin. In 1876, the journal Paris à l’eau-forte publishes three of his etchings depicting rural interiors in contrasting tones. His work attracts the attention notably of Théophile Gautier, and later of Champfleury and Philippe Burty.
Bateaux de pêche, Normandie (environ de Caen), dated 1862, bears witness to his combined use of etching and aquatint; the work is held at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Paintings are held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon and the Musée Lambinet in Versailles, while the Louvre’s Department of Graphic Arts holds a number of prints and drawings. In 1856, Hervier organises a sale himself at the Hôtel Drouot, which proves unsuccessful. An album of his prints is published by Joly in 1888. A study of the artist by Annie Bauduin is published in 1980 under the title Adolphe Hervier, un artiste indépendant entre le romantisme et l’impressionnisme.
This profile brings together identity references for Adolphe Hervier and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
5 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, Piguet. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Watercolour
Scène villageoise
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2025-11-27 — 2025-12-10
Published result : 100 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 200–300
View the lot at the auction house ↗Watercolour
Scène villageoise
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2025-09-11 — 2025-09-24
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 200–300
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Ländliche Szenerie mit Gehöft.
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2020-11-06
Published result : 1300 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Oil on hardboard
Bäuerin bei der Schweinefütterung.
Öl auf Htf
Date to be documented
Published result : 480 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 750
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Village et moulins
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2017-03-15
Published result : 1000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 800–1200
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
