Main content
Claude-Henri Dufour Art Course Materials
Notifications
Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Claude-Henri Dufour was a professional designer and art teacher active in central France in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Born in Moulin, in 1766, Dufour was the son of a state prosecutor and traveled to Paris to study law, where he frequented Jacques-Louis David's studio and the Jardin des Plantes and studied natural history painting. At the beginning of the French Revolution, Dufour returned to Moulins, where he taught drawing and design courses at l'École Centrale de l'Allier in the Auvergne region of central France. Dufour also collected Bourbon art and collaborated with art scholar and archaeologist Achille Allier on his work L'ancien Bourbonnais (1833). Dufour was a passionate republican, as well as very committed to arguing for the utility of art school instruction for designers and textile manufacturers. He died in 1845.
Dufour, Claude-Henri, 1766-1845Claude-Henri Dufour was a professional designer and art teacher active in central France in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Born in Moulin, in 1766, Dufour was the son of a state prosecutor and traveled to Paris to study law, where he frequented Jacques-Louis David's studio and the Jardin des Plantes and studied natural history painting. At the beginning of the French Revolution, Dufour returned to Moulins, where he taught drawing and design courses at l'École Centrale de l'Allier in the Auvergne region of central France. Dufour also collected Bourbon art and collaborated with art scholar and archaeologist Achille Allier on his work L'ancien Bourbonnais (1833). Dufour was a passionate republican, as well as very committed to arguing for the utility of art school instruction for designers and textile manufacturers. He died in 1845.
The collection consists of course planning materials, manuscripts for an illustrated treatise on art and design, speech drafts, drawings, and other writings and illustrations of French professional designer and art teacher Claude-Henri Dufour (1766-1845), related to an art course he developed and taught at l'École Centrale d'Allier in the Auvergne region of central France around the time of the French Revolution. Materials pertaining to Dufour's teaching account for the majority of the collection, comprising outlines, preparatory materials, notes, and justifications for the course, manuscripts and drawings related to an accompanying illustrated art and design textbook that was never published, and other documents elaborating on his teaching philosophies, the organization of the art school, building plans for schools and museums, and his arguments in favor of the usefulness of art education. An outline describes the course's contents, which consist of: Part I, covering the elements of design, perspective, and the balance of bodies ("De la ponderation ou équilibre des corps"); Part II, on the human figure, proportion, anatomy, and aesthetics ("De la Beauté et de la Grâce"); and Part III, on composition. In several of his writings, Dufour proposes an unrealized fourth part, which would deal with landscapes, animals, architecture, flowers, and ornamental design, which he claims would be essential for young artists working in the textile manufacturing and decorative ironwork fields; however, only a few drafts and notes exist for this section. Manuscripts for the treatise are most complete for the first two parts of the course and feature frequent sketches and illustrations intended as figures to demonstrate the principles described in the text, including geometrical designs, anatomical sketches, and cross-hatching examples.
These documents provide insight into a pragmatic approach towards the teaching of art and design around the time of the French Revolution by an ardent republican who was keen to promote the value of design education in provincial France in the early years of industrial design. Dufour's related writings also draw connections between the utility of art and the French national identity, as seen in his discourses on the effects of the art of drawing on the people and in his arguments against Latin inscriptions on French monuments. His interest in architecture and natural history is also apparent in his various architectural drawings and plans, notes in preparation for a visit to the Roman baths at Néris-le-Bains near Moulin, preliminary plans for an illustrated work on natural history based on the methods of Maria Sybilla Merian, and his notes on Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.
Purchase, 2015 (AM 2015-91).
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Kelly Bolding in June 2015. Finding aid written by Kelly Bolding in June 2015.
Nothing was removed from the collection during 2015 processing.
Subject
- Aesthetics, French -- Study and teaching -- 19th century -- Sources
- Art -- Study and teaching -- France -- 19th century -- Sources
- Art and design -- Study and teaching -- France -- 19th century -- Sources
- Art schools -- France -- 19th century -- Sources
- Art teachers -- France -- 19th century -- Sources
- Artists -- France -- 19th century -- Sources
- Decorative arts -- Study and teaching -- France -- 19th century -- Sources
- Design -- Study and teaching -- France -- 19th century -- Sources
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Kelly Bolding
- Finding Aid Date
- 2015
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
14 leaves, stitched together, in which Dufour discusses the organization of the design school, the role of the professor, and the various aspects of the course at L'École Centrale de l'Allier. The manuscript contains significant revisions and concludes with a draft letter intended to be sent to a government minister along with the document describing the school, which was commissioned by a 1797 circular.
Physical Description1 folder
9 leaves, stitched together, including a synopsis of a treatise or textbook for the course.
Physical Description1 folder
2 leaves, containing a short outline of the course.
Physical Description1 folder
This file group comprises Dufour's working papers for a treatise, intended to serve as a textbook to accompany his course on art and design, that was never completed. It comprises drafts of text and illustrations, progressively less finished. The early sections appear to be nearly ready for the press, while later sections consist only of outlines, partial drafts, and sketches. There are a number of transfers of drawings on varnished paper of the kind often made to prepare drawings for engraving. These include a number of architectural studies, suggesting that Dufour had planned to add a fourth part on decorative art, including architecture, hinted at the end of his outline for the course.
Physical Description1 box
17 leaves and 3 half leaves with illustrations, stitched together. The 19 illustrations include geometrical figures and solids in pen and red chalk, pen and ink drawings of a leaf ornament, a flower and classical head, samples of tonal systems, cross-hatching in charcoal, pen and ink, and color wash, and a drawing of the head of Minerva in four progressive stages.
Physical Description1 folder
11 leaves, stitched together, with additional diagrams laid in.
Physical Description1 folder
13 leaves, stitched together.
Physical Description1 folder
19 full sheets, including finished drawings of various perspective and geometrical constructions in different colored inks and washes, along with early sketches and drafts.
Physical Description1 folder
Two drafts, one 16 leaves, consisting of an early stage of composition with extensive rewriting, and another 9 leaves with additional loose sheets.
Physical Description1 folder
Two drafts in early stages of composition, one 15 leaves and one 6 leaves, with considerable revisions.
Physical Description1 folder
18 leaves containing pen and ink drawings and extensive calculations on proportion.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes 16 leaves, stitched together in two separate groups, with numerous tracings, plans, and drawings, some of which are pasted in.
Physical Description1 folder
1 leaf.
Physical Description1 folder
2 leaves, possibly extracted from a bound volume, including a proposal for a work on natural history and a draft concerning a portrait.
Physical Description1 folder
1 leaf.
Physical Description1 folder
4 leaves, the first of which contains a description of a course of study, followed by 6 pages of sketches of geometrical figures and a series of pen and ink drawings showing the proportions and attitudes of human heads.
Physical Description1 folder
4 leaves.
Physical Description1 folder
2 leaves, regarding rules and regulations for art schools.
Physical Description1 folder
3 leaves, regarding the selection of a professor of design.
Physical Description1 folder
2 leaves, including Dufour's discussion of his students and a section on the utility of design in textile manufacturing.
Physical Description1 folder
1 leaf, containing a draft of a speech by Dufour.
Physical Description1 folder
4 leaves, containing lists of drawings or paintings.
Physical Description1 folder
1 full sheet.
Physical Description1 folder
2 leaves, including a site plan and draft of a document describing Dufour's ideas for the development of an art school, a painting and sculpture museum, a conservatory for the study of arts and textiles, and a natural history collection.
Physical Description1 folder
1 leaf.
Physical Description1 folder
3 leaves, including a page of notes and a charcoal sketch.
Physical Description1 folder
4 leaves.
Physical Description1 folder
1 leaf.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes 5 additional loose leaves of writings by Dufour.
Physical Description1 folder
Original portfolio in which materials were kept, including an attached biographical note on Dufour.
Physical Description1 folder