Jean-Achille Bellanger

active in Paris between 1745 and 1770

Very little is known to date about the life and artistic career of Jean-Achille Bellanger. He was deputy to the royal administrator at the Paris Châtelet and entries in artists’ encyclopaedias describe him as a draughtsman and amateur etcher. Writing for the Inventaire du Fonds Français, Marcel Roux lauds him as “un amateur, mais un artiste (il est même plus artiste que bien des professionnels, qui ne sont souvent que des ouvriers d’art plus ou moins habiles)”. The author records a total of twenty-one small etchings by Bellanger, “gravées avec beaucoup d’intelli­gence et de goût”. His works are of the utmost rarity; a complete set of his etchings is only available in the Département des Estampes of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.