Pierre Soubeyran


Pierre Soubeyran was an 18th-century Swiss engraver, etcher and Encyclopédiste, mainly active in Paris.

Biography

Pierre Soubeyran was the son of the locksmith Pierre Soubeyran, a Huguenot refugees from Sauve, Languedoc and his wife Pernette de Bourdeau.
He received his first graphic training by Daniel Gardelle from Geneva, the brother of the painter and engraver Robert Gardelle. His protectors sent him in Paris to further training in 1730. Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui encouraged him to train as etcher in Paris, where from 1742 to 1749 he was a member of the French Academy of Sciences. At times, he also received lessons by Georg Friedrich Schmidt.
In Paris, he acquired a solid reputation. Soubeyran soon became one of the most qualified engravers of his time. On 14 May 1748 he was appointed as Head of the Public Drawing School in Geneva, École publique de dessin de Genève that opened in 1751.
Soubeyran wrote the article for the Encyclopédie by Denis Diderot and d’Alembert.
Pierre Soubeyran is often mistaken with his cousin, Jean-Pierre Soubeyran, a miniaturist.

Main works

His primary prints are: