Godefroy Durand (1832,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

– 27 September 1896,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a German-born French

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

and draughtsman, who worked in both France and Great Britain.

Life

Durand was born in

to French parents. He trained in Paris under the painter Léon Cogniet, and then worked in Paris in the 1860s for many of the leading French illustrated newspapers of the time, including '' L'Univers Illustré,'' ''

L'Illustration ''L'Illustration'' (; 1843–1944) was a French language, French illustrated weekly newspaper published in Paris. It was founded by Édouard Charton with the first issue published on 4 March 1843, it became the first illustrated newspaper in ...

'' (1864), '' Le Monde Illustré'' (1870) and '' Le Journal Illustré''. He also had work published in the '' Illustrated News of the World '' in 1859. He moved permanently to London in 1869 to take up full-time illustrative work for the newly established illustrated weekly newspaper ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd with Thomas's brother, Lewis Samuel Thomas, as a co-founder. The Graphic was set up as ...

'', where he became a "special artist." The obituary by his former employer noted how he had been with the British newspaper "from its inception" on 4 December 1869 for several decades until the 1890s. He exhibited ''Un Coup de Canon'' (1870) at the Suffolk Street Gallery, London in a mixed 'Exhibition for the Benefit of the Distressed Peasantry of France' held to raise funds for those affected by the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870–71. His watercolour ''Siege of Paris, 1871 Montmartre during the sortie of January 19th'' was shown at the Royal Society of British Artists in London in 1873. One of his Franco-Prussian War illustrations was republished in the newly launched Belgian weekly newspaper '' L'Illustration Européenne'' in 1870. He died in Paris in 1896.Archives de Paris, acte de décès n°2122 dressé le 28/09/1896, vue 3 / 28
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Works

Drawings by Durand are held by the Royal Collection and the William Morris Gallery, London.

References

External links

Godefroy Durand (Biographical details) (britishmuseum.org)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durand, Godefroy 1832 births 1896 deaths 19th-century French illustrators Artists from Düsseldorf Immigrants to France